Alpha and Omega: The Great Wolf Games (Re-upload)
by Lilly Omega
Summary: When the young wolves compete in The Great Wolf Games, things turn upside down when King returns, seeking vengeance towards the wolves who defeated his pack two winters ago. Princess also arrives in Jasper, after leaving her father's pack, seeking to become part of the Pack, but few trust her. Things get even worse when Princess and Runt are taken to Banff by the rogues...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The rogue she-wolf was one step from being an outcast in her own land, in her own pack, but yet she was always the target of senseless abuse from the other wolves of her pack. Her name was Princess, formerly Terra, when she was not a member of the wolf pack of Banff Park but the wolf pack of Jasper Park. The wolves who ranked above her had specific orders to _not_ feed her or to have any contact with her that was not violent. No wolves were allowed to mate with her because of the Alpha male's fear that she would give birth to "rebellious" grandchildren. King, once known by the name Slash, the Alpha male of this pack, and the father of Princess, had deemed Princess an Omega wolf in a pack of only Alpha wolves. King's decree about mating with her, however, said nothing about going for Princess's throat; neither King nor his mate Queen, mother of Princess, thought that any of the males of their pack would mate with her in any way, even with her mouth. King and Queen just assumed that the wolves who ranked below them, as the Alpha male and Alpha female of the pack, found that act just as indecent as they did. The truth was that the Alphas of the pack did not have the decency of King and Queen, even though they were not very decent wolves either. Their followers were indecent in every way, but the Alpha wolves were violently indecent. They supported anything that had to do with violence, abuse, beatings and even murder.

Most ironically, mating season in Banff was probably the worst time for Princess to be around. She had it so much better off any other time of the year because there were not as many male wolves who were in heat, looking for some reason of it. It was usually those males who could not found a female who wanted to mate with them who came to Princess, or those who wanted to get more pleasure after courting a female and mating with her. That was how the Alphas, other than King and Queen, were mostly indecent. Princess would think that the Alphas who always came to her looking for some pleasure would be too busy finding mates, and mating with them, to worry about getting anything from Princess's muzzle, but she was dead wrong about that. Even _out_ of mating season, Princess's muzzle was always getting worn out by the males who seemed to not get enough mating. All because they were not allowed to get her pregnant, the males improvised by going straight to her muzzle instead. At the end even a single day, Princess's muzzle was numb and her throat raw and sore from the males always going down it. And she got so much of their bodily fluids in her stomach that it was the only taste Princess could remember, literally, it was so long since she had had a large amount of anything ingested. The Alphas, even the other slaves, always got to eat before Princess, and so she normally only got the bones with whatever tiny scraps of meat were left on them, which was not much at all. Usually Princess went without eating on some nights because she could not see those tiny scraps of meat left on the bones. It struck Princess as odd how these males of her pack always seemed to be in heat, and that they could not think about just sticking themselves in their mates' muzzles instead of her own. If there was anything good out of them doing this, it was the small fact that they were inadvertently preventing Princess from starving to the point King wanted her to, through their actions.

Princess was just recovering from another incident of a male wolf forcing himself down her throat only minutes ago. (That male was not in the cave now, but had went back to his own cave to rest after what he forced Princess to do.) The white coating on Princess's lips were the only evidence of anything ever happening, of the fluids now digesting in her stomach. Princess was massaging her aching, numb muzzle with her front paws, trying to bring feeling back to her muzzle before another male inevitably came to her cave again expecting the same from her. (She could not be surprised if she saw some of the males who had already been here once today to come back for more later.) Princess's muzzle seemed to take more beatings than her body. Actual abuse resulted more from the females of the pack than the males; the males did not abuse Princess like the females did so long as Princess made them feel good. If she refused, then the males would always get violent with Princess until she heavily bleed, only to leave, and come back about an hour later to give her another chance. That time, she would comply to the males' requests only because she was knocked senseless by their beatings, rather than out of her thinking straight. Although Princess expected those males to lick the blood from the wounds that they inflicted to her if she did what they wished, the males never did do so. Princess was always left to take care of her injuries, no matter how serious or minor they were. Princess had so many scars on her body from all the beatings she took since being enslaved that she could no longer take a beating without any of her scars, even the ones that were a year old, or older, opening up and bleeding again. The females seemed to find pleasure from directing their violence towards Princess. The more Princess bled, the more exited the attackers seemed to get. There were even those rare females who got so excited by the sight of Princess's blood that they went into a frenzy to lick Princess's scars until they stopped bleeding. These actions were not to help Princess, but only to quench those females thirst for blood.

When Princess finally brought feeling back into her muzzle, she licked the white coating off it with her tongue. The only reason Princess had for swallowing that disgusting fluid, which had just as awful an after taste, was Princess did not know the next time she would get any actual meal, or even scraps of meat from the bones left over from the pack's hunts. Food was scarce enough in Banff to begin with, so for Princess to be getting the bones to nibble on was lucky enough. They could chose to give her nothing and save all the tiny bits of flesh on the bones for themselves instead, but they felt that it was worth giving those scraps up just to tease Princess about what she was missing. What Princess wouldn't do for an actual serving of caribou meat instead of some fluid from wolves in heat, that had the consistency of maple syrup from trees. _It does not a have the taste of maple syrup or anything good, that is for sure,_ thought Princess.

Finally, with a peaceful moment to think, Princess let her body collapse. Laying on her back, with her legs and tail in the direction of the mouth of her cave, if it even could be called "her cave"! There was nothing that was "hers" anymore. Everyone that _was_ Princess's now belonged to the other rogues, right down to the clippings of moss and those bird feathers that Princess used to decorate her mane with when the rogues howled at the full moon. Everything that Princess had once called her property was no longer hers. She had nothing but her body, and she did not even know how long it would be before she lost that to them. Before they just killed her! Princess was looking at the back wall of her cave into a large crystal, her eyes half shut, when she thought that she heard footsteps. Her eyes shot wide open. Princess could see the reflection of a male wolf, who only had one eye, in the crystals. Even without looking up from the reflection, Princess could see that this male's tongue was hanging out, and that he was excited by the view of Princess he had upon entering this cave. He was excited not only because he was in heat, being a wolf without a mate because no one wanted to marry a one-eyed wolf, but because of the, in his mind anyway, excellent view of he had of Princess. Princess's legs were stretched out in front of her after she had fallen flat on her back, exhausted from all the abuse she took, both to her body from the females and the males to her muzzle. Princess did have a chance to move before it happened. The male did not give her a chance to move before he stuck his muzzle between her legs. When she felt his wet nose penetrate her, she had a sudden burst of energy, and shot away from him. Princess was not about to let some fool let himself lick her down there. She thought about tearing out his either eyeball just for sticking his nose there.

Princess cursed the wolf, and then acted as if he was not even there to begin with, even though her mind was buzzing with violent things that she wanted to do to him for his intrusion of her sensitive area. She began thinking about the wolf from Jasper whose name was Runt. Runt was the wolf pup who Princess once protected from being executed by her own pack members, at the orders of her brutal father, King, if Runt's family did not come for him by Christmas day, almost two years ago. When Runt's family finally did arrive, King ordered Princess to lead half of the pack to Jasper and overthrow the wolves there, to make the valley their own. Princess refused to lead even a single wolf to Jasper, and she took no part in the battle until she saw that Runt had been separated from his mother, Kate, when the fighting quickly split them up. Princess recalled that a lone rogue wolf had attacked Kate, who told Runt just to run for his life. That was when Princess had decided to not take sides with her father's pack but with the pack that had been here to get their pup back. Princess always thought that what her pack was going, kidnapping wolf pups from rival packs just to conquer their territory by using the pups as bait to get the strongest wolves away from their territory long enough to conquer it, was wrong. But not until the pup whose name was Runt came along did Princess finally have the courage to rescue the kidnapped pup(s), and do was right for the pack here to get their young ones back. However, because of a spy, King confronted Princess, knowing that his only daughter, his only surviving pup, had chose to take sides with the enemy. King was defeated by the Jasper wolves and wounded by his own daughter after he wounded her the same way. Both Princess and King suffered injuries to their jugular veins, and they both almost lost their lives as a result. When Princess recovered, she thought it was best if she returned to Banff, only with the intention of learning if her father, whom she renounced her loyalty to, even renounced being his daughter, had died. Unfortunately, King survived his injuries, like Princess, and he ordered Princess to be enslaved. Princess had no chance to escape back to the Jasper wolves; the wolves still loyal to King quickly overpowered her.

Princess had taken the side of the Jasper wolves not only because she felt that it had been the right thing to do, but, because, in her time she had chosen to watch over and protect run, Princess grew close to Runt. Princess had come to sense a bond like that of a mother and a son between her and Runt, who had woke up Princess's once dormant maternal instincts. Female wolves were born with maternal instincts, but living in Banff for most of her life had caused those instincts to grow dormant in Princess's mind. Princess never knew a wolf she would mate with, but thinking about Runt, she knew now that there was one wolf whom she would willingly mate with and give birth to the puppies of: Runt. Princess may have treated Runt like a son when he was just a puppy enslaved in this pack, but now she knew that Runt was much older, at least an adolescent wolf by now. Princess now had much different feelings about Runt now, compared to then. It was no longer just a motherly love that she felt towards Runt, but the kind of love one felt for his or her mate. Yes, she was born during the spring before Runt, and during the spring after his parents Kate and Humphrey, but Princess did not see anything wrong with marrying a wolf, a little less than a year younger than herself. Now, she _always_ was in deep thought about marrying Runt and having multiple litters of puppies with him before she would be too old to mate.

There was not one day that Princess did not pray for a chance to escape from Banff, and there were even less days that she missed Runt. Princess risked everything, and lost everything, because of Runt, and she felt that it was all worth it simply because Runt had been returned to his _real_ family. If Runt had not been returned to them, and the rogues did not kill him, it would have been a worse fate than even death to go on living in Banff as a member of an enemy pack. These rogues who, every hellish day of her life, made Princess want to just leave for good, even if that meant ending her own life to accomplish that. Unfortunately, Princess was forbidden to leave her cave for any reason, and there was nothing but those crystals in her cave that she could end her own life with. (Secretly, Princess had planned to kill herself just to be out of this hellhole of a pack, but when it came to carrying such an act out, she could not bring herself to do it, because she longed so dearly just to see Runt again before she died. Runt was all that kept Princess going these days.) To enforce this decree about Princess not being allowed to step foot out of her cave, King forced at least two wolves to be stationed outside her cave every hour of the day, making escape impossible. She would be torn to pieces if she even tried. Princess knew that without ever going near the cave because she had once seen what happened to prisoners when they tried to escape a holding cave that was guarded. There was not much left of those wolves when the guards were done with them. Princess did not want to end up nothing more than a few bones used to pick her fellow pack members' teeth and a steaming pile of intestines that they used in a dark version of tug-of-war in the rogues' blood sports.

Princess had always refused to mother, to give birth to, even a single pup with any of these brutes who dared call themselves wolves, unless it was one of their slaves. Princess felt more of a connection with her fellow _slaves_ than she did the members of her pack. She could never consider mating with her superiors. Such was the case even _before_ she became a slave. For that reason, Princess did not know what pleasure came from mating.

_It would be torture to mate with any of them, I am sure,_ thought Princess, recalling how they always made her muzzle feel. Princess did not truly know how it felt to be a mother. But her, now, first and only true love, Runt, had awakened her motherly instincts almost two years ago. That little, loveable pup whose name matched the size of his body, but not his spirit and bravery, had softened her emotionally, and made Princess a much more loving wolf than any other rogue, in Banff at least, could ever be. Princess was in love with Runt like a mate now, and she had not seen in him years. Who could say that he had not married and had pups with another female by now? Regardless, Princess was obsessed with being reunited with Runt again somebody, whether he was married to someone else already or not. Every night since she had, now so regretfully, returned to Banff, Princess dreamed about Runt, always as an adult and not a puppy. They were erotic dreams about her and Runt; specially they were about her and Runt taking part in many different acts of mating, a different one in every dream. This may seem like a strange behavior for any wolf, but it was her wet dreams about Runt that were the only thing, literally, that had kept her from going entirely insane for the past two years. She had lost some of her sanity by just living in Banff as an Alpha, and more as a slave, making those foolish males feel good every day of those almost two years, against her own will, until her muzzle went numb. The brutal beatings did not help matters any. Obviously, if Princess had a choice between having her way with Runt in Jasper, and not just dreaming about riding him in this damned cave in Banff, where she was always abused in so many ways, she would always chose the first option over the other, no questions asked.

When Princess was not having wet dreams about Runt, a wolf whom she was so close to, even though she hardly knew him, or anything about him or his family, either, she would have much more appropriate dreams, peaceful ones, about finally living out a great life in Jasper. Princess's most reoccurring dream, her favorite dream, always involved herself howling with Runt at the mountain in Jasper known as The Howling Rock, while relaxing in a large hit spring with other wolves, racing other females, and even, finally, letting Runt know that she was pregnant with his pups. Princess had also recently had a dream about taking part in an event called "The Great Wolf Games" in Jasper, rather than "Blood Sports" in Banff, and winning in the end. She still had more rare, yet still reoccurring, nightmares about her life in Banff. Most commonly, Princess saw herself being surrounded by, in the darkness of a starless night, in her cave, by multiple wolves, including her parents King and Queen. They would beat, bite, scratch and even rape (most of the males excluding her father) her until she was left for dead or with a broken body. The most terrifying part of nightmares like this was that the attackers always had the appearance of demonic wolves with rotting flesh, deformed faces with overgrown fangs, bloody muzzles and fiery eyes. Not only were these creatures, for lack of a better term, actually from horror stories that wolves of many packs told over fires, they were something that Princess could imagine seeing in Hell, a good term to describe her life. It was these nightmares that would quite often lead to Princess waking up screaming, only to be, quite rudely, be told to be quiet by wolves living in caves nearby, or they would tear it eyeballs out.

Princess felt something in her mouth, thrusting, and when she re-opened her brown eyes, they grew large with disbelief. All Princess could see before her was the stomach of a wolf, the one she had seen in the crystals, moving toward and away from her face. She knew what this male had stuck in her mouth, but it was too late to stop him from climaxing in her muzzle. She could feel the sticky fluid fill her muzzle up; it dripped out the sides in miniscule amounts. Princess opened her mouth in a scream and backed away with fear and disgust being the only emotions on her face. Princess couldn't believe that this male had done all that in her mouth while she was distracted by her thoughts about Runt. She did not swallow anything this time but let out another scream, this time one of anger, and then she spit everything in her mouth all over the floor of her cave.

"How dare you?!" screamed Princess, only to be cut off by the male.

"We Alphas can do whatever we want to you, as long as you are a slave!" the male said harshly, about to go back into her mouth again, but she threatened to tear it off if he came any closer. Princess was acting like a rabid wolf, she was so angry and shaky. But still, that did not scare this male wolf, whose seen much worse than an angry female of his species, at all. Princess noted the pleasure in his voice, and that only upset her more, as she kept spitting with disgust.

"At least let me know-" Princess was still angry, a word that was an understatement for how mad she truly was, but she knew a good way to get back to him. It was against her father's decree about how no wolves could mate with her, get her pregnant, but this would not be able to resist a female offering him a chance to mate with her. And Princess could not resist a chance to tear out his damn jugular vein and eat it before him! Still, as much as she wanted to do it now, Princess kept herself under control, for now anyway. She got close to him, stroked him down low with her paw, even moved her paw up and down around him a little, all to go along with what she was about to offer him, all just for a chance to get some payback. Princess turned around so all he could see was her butt, which she wriggled to further entice this male into mating with her. Now, Princess lifted up her tail. Princess appeared to be accepting when the male went to mount her. He only had time to put his massive paws onto Princess's butt before the most expected, for the male, happened. He had no time to react when Princess snarled like a mother wolf defending her puppies, before she whipped around violently. There was no longer a flirtatious side to her. Princess barred her teeth and she slammed her paw down, _hard_, on his most sensitive area. The male screamed as he felt himself being sterilized so quickly by Princess. She dug her razor-sharp claws into the soil and then she drug her paw across the cave floor, leaving a blood trail in wake of where she drug her paw. There was a pool of blood between his legs. As he panicked, and screamed with agony, Princess seemed to find nothing more than enjoyment and _pleasure_ from his suffering.

"You won't have any puppies without this, now will you!" Princess snarled. She now had her face in his direction, barring her teeth once again, and her hackles sticking straight up. Princess was wagging her tail back-and-forth slowly. "Now run along, if you can run, before you bleed out or before I decide to hurt you MORE! Maybe, if you can find one of those stupid females in time, one of those so called 'healers' can at least patch up your wound!"

"I'll...kill...you..." the male said only these three words, that did not bother Princess at all, between his pained puffs of breath.

"I don't see how that is could be possible," Princess retorted. "I can sense how weak you are from blood loss! Let me help you speed the process up!" she added and then tore a massive gash in his throat with her fangs. It was an act of cannibalism, yes, but Princess was so desperate for meat that she did not care. She quickly swallowed the ragged chunk of flesh that she tore from his neck, and she savored its flavor all the way down her gullet.

Now, there was so much more than just blood leaving this wolf who had made the worst possible mistake he ever could have by mating with Princess's mouth, while her eyes were closed no less, and without warning, while she had been distracted by thoughts of her love, Runt. That act struck Princess as extremely offensive. This wolf's like was what was leaving him now, in additional to massive amounts of blood from his neck, which Princess was licking up like it was water. Princess had ripped open his jugular vein, an injury that always proved fatal. Tearing open an animal's jugular vein was how all wolves successfully brought down their prey in a hunt. Princess clearly felt great about ending these stupid wolf's life, and watching him die, too. But her feeling of pride came to an end when she turned around to the sound of a gasp. Princess's heart sank to her feet. In the mouth of her cave stood four wolves, all with their jaws dropped in shock. The two wolves who were in front of this group were her father, King, and her mother, Queen. Behind them were the two wolves who were guarding Princess's cave, to make sure she did not escape.

"Princess!" gasped King. "What on Earth have you done?"

"What have _I_ done?" roared Princess. "You should ask yourself what this fool did, if he wasn't dead! He made several foolish decisions. I won't even tell you what he did to me when I had my eyes closed! But more importantly, he was in MY CAVE! But I fixed him...in more than one way. He even went against your own decree regarding myself by wanting to take one of the two things that are all I have left!" The four wolves blinked and stared at Princess with confusion. "The two things I am talking about are my cave and my purity! I've never had any puppies before and I would never dare to mate with any of you scum that call yourselves wolves! I'd marry any wolf from Jasper Park, Red Deer Park, or even Saw-Tooth Park in Idaho before any of you. And, if he was still alive, this wolf would not be having anymore puppies. If you all want to know why I killed him, he threatened to do so to me first."

"So you just murdered him?" King asked rhetorically. "Well, there is no place for murderers in my pace, or anywhere in all of Banff."

Princess's jaw hit the floor. "WHAT?!" she roared. "What if he had killed me instead?" King had no chance to reply. "You would not all that murder? You wolves kill puppies for being deemed a beta or an Omega rather than an Alpha! You even have the parents executed or exiled from Banff for producing, to quote you, such 'lowly' wolves! You consider blood sorts to be normal! None of that is murder in the eyes of you fools, but if I kill someone to save my own life, you call _that_ murder? Well, I'll show you what murder truly is, and then Hell!"

"How can a believe a wolf, an Omega wolf no less, who betrayed my pack to aid the _enemy_?" King chose to ignore most of what Princess said. It was anything but reason to King, but rather it all sounded like rambling to him. "You will be exiled from my land, and all of Banff, for murdering an innocent wolf. Get her out of my park," he added. Following their Alpha male's orders, the two guards of the cave went after Princess immediately, running her out of the cave. They continued to chase her west.

"Princess will run until she reaches Jasper, surely," said Queen.

"Then so will we," said King, "and we will take the valley that is rightfully ours!"


	2. The Great Wolf Games

**Chapter One**

**The Great Wolf Games**

"Claudette! You're running too fast!" the lighter hued of the two wolf brothers, with gray fur, cried. Their sister, who had golden rod fur, darted past them, over a finish line constructed from sticks tied together by wines, and stuck in the soil, sticking straight up. Claudette broken the vines as she was the first wolf to cross the finish line.

Claudette jumped up in the air and landed on all four paws, in the grass, gloating all the while at the other wolves of her generation, including her little brothers Runt and Stinky. Runt was the youngest of his litter and Stinky the middle sibling. Fleet, a former member of the Northern Pack of Jasper, and the mate of Claudette, was also present, only in the audience. Claudette had her butt toward the crowd of young wolves, and now she stuck it up in the air as she tauntingly waved her tale at them. Normally this would have excited the males, even though Claudette was already married to Fleet, but everyone of them who did not come in as one of the ten winners were disappointed. Then again, all of the wolves were disappointed for not finishing this race as number one. Anyone who was not among the top ten winners of this race would not be moving on to compete in the actual Great Wolf Games, a competition where all the wolves from all the packs in Jasper come to compete in all kinds of events. Needless to say, Claudette's little brothers were extremely embarrassed, primarily because Claudette was taunting them, and all the other wolves of their generation, by shaking her tail at them. When they were surrounded by their friends, nothing was more embarrassing than their older sister shaking her butt in view of everyone! Runt and Stinky were blushing because of how their older sister, who claimed to be the most mature wolf of their generation, was acting, and because they had lost this race to here, too. Thankfully, the other adolescent wolves were just as embarrassed by Claudette's victorious taunting. Runt and Stinky would not want to hear the other males commenting on their sister's behavior. All of the young wolves, even the little sister of Claudette's mate, Fleet, whose name was Magril, held their heads in defeat.

There was no arguing that Claudette was a beautiful wolf, the most beautiful female of her generation, no doubt. Ever since Claudette entered her adolescent years, ever since she shed her fuzz for her first coat of fur, she had always found herself being followed by a tail of males falling flat on their muzzles over each other. So when it was announced that Claudette had married the Northern Wolf Fleet, many males were left disappointed that Claudette was no longer single. It was ironic that Claudette was considered the most beautiful she-wolf of her generation because she more closely resembled her grandmother, Eve, whom never had this much attention, than her more attractive mother, Kate. Claudette most closely resembled in her face, as well as in her eyes, color of her fur, ears and mane. The size of her head and her body were also traits she inherited from her grandmother. A muscular wolf, Claudette appeared to be about as large as her parents and she was only an adolescent wolf. There were very few noticeable traits that came from her parents, Kate and Humphrey; the few that did were traits from Kate. Claudette inherited her breath-taking smile and her curves from Kate. Claudette's curves were the secondary reason she had once had all the males tripping over each other. The real reason, her large hips, were a trait Claudette inherited not from her mother but from Eve. (Stinky and Runt were different altogether, having inherited most of their traits from their father Humphrey, and not their grandfather, Winston, the mate of Eve.)

Of the dozens upon dozens of wolves who had been watching these qualifying races from the start, there was no more than nine wolves cheering over Claudette's victory. The rest were silent. The cheering wolves included Kate and Humphrey, the parents of Claudette, Lilly−Kate's little sister−and Garth−mate of Lilly, and son of the former Eastern Alpha male, Tony, who was also cheering−Winston and Eve, Fleet and Magril. Fleet and Magril were the only children of a Northern wolf called Nars, who lost to Kate in the Great Wolf Games as a puppy. Fleet fell in love with Claudette when they were puppies, when they first competed in The Great Wolf Games.

"I knew that Claudette would win!" said Lilly, a she-wolf with leucism, a condition very similar to albinism, except in that Lilly could reproduce where albino wolves could not, happily. "She's always been the fastest wolf of her generation..."

Nars, the father of Fleet and Magril interrupted. "Claudette _was_ the fastest wolf of her generation until my daughter, Magril, joined the games. Do not forget that Magril and Claudette are only _one_ win apart from being tied, for good reason too."

Kate turned to Nars, who she did not likely very well because of their past encounters. For one, Nars was an abusive father who hit Fleet and Magril as puppies when they did not do good in the games. "That one reason is your daughter cannot keep her cool when a male wolf is flirting with her," said Kate. "No offense Fleet, Magril."

"None taken," Fleet said for himself and Magril, who whispered in his ear "None taken" because she refused to speak out loud whenever Nars was around. Magril was afraid of her father, even being out of his pack, and older now.

"What are you saying?" asked Nars.

"Have you forgotten already?" said Eve, who shot a death glare at Nars. Nars backed off a little. A death stare from Eve was not something someone wanted to be on the receiving end of. It could mean that whoever is unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end might just wind up dead. No, Nars had not forgot what they were talking about. The only loss that Magril, an almost mute, but still extremely competitive wolf, had was because of the actions of a male wolf who had already been disqualified from the qualifying rounds early on. That male had been acting flirtatiously in view of Magril, leading to her tripping over a tree root and going off course. Unfortunately for Magril, who wanted nothing to do with her father, even though he was supporting her, the judges did not see why she went off course, and therefore, none of the judges could take Magril's word for it. When Nars shot an angry glance at Kate again, that was all Eve could take. She snarled at him, and then chased Nars away from her daughter. Nars ran away, screaming like a puppy.

Fleet changed the subject. "What is the next qualifying round to the games?" he asked, trying not to laugh over how Eve had scared his father away. He looked at the "scoreboard" dug in the soil with a stick. It read:

Claudette: 25 victories

Magril: 24 victories

Runt: 20 victories

Stinky: 15 victories

Other names of wolves who were already eliminated had been whipped out of the soil, Fleet among them because he had let himself get disqualified by, intentionally, letting himself go off course for Claudette's sake, something that angered his father, whom Fleet and Magril had nothing to do with for his poor treatment of them as puppies. The rest who had already been eliminated were eliminated because they had less than ten victories at this point, which made the judges feel that those wolves had no reason to be in the games anymore.

"There aren't any more required qualifying rounds, but there is one that those of us who are left for the racing challenge are going to take part in to prove ourselves," said Claudette. "It is time to see who comes in first this time," she added good-naturedly, with a look at Magril, who smiled back rather than speaking. Magril preferred not to speak, even when her father was nowhere to be seen. She never knew when he would show up again, but it was unlikely after Eve drove him away. Runt, Claudette, Stinky, Magril, a female wolf called Mica, who was the mate of Stinky, and five other wolves lined up at the starting line of this extra round. All then of them were more than ready to prove themselves to the judges, especially Claudette and Magril.

This race, the ten young wolves were learning now as the judges addressed them, was not just a normal race but an obstacle course. Claudette's eyes glowed with excitement. There was not a wolf in all of Jasper who was better at obstacle courses than herself, except for her mother. Kate and Claudette were two of only a handful of wolves who had the agility and skill to actually complete an obstacle course without making a single mistake. The only other wolves known to ever complete an obstacle course in the Jasper Great Wolf Games were Kate's mother Eve and her long deceased grandmother. But now, unlike when Kate was her daughter's age, this obstacle course was just for the wolves, who were already slated to go on to the actual games, to prove themselves even more than they already had just by still being in the games this far in.

Now, the ten adolescent wolves heard a loud howl from the female judge, and it was her howl that provoked them all to take off from the starting line in a frenzy. Although it did not matter who came in first this time, everyone of the wolves wanted to come in first just to prove that they could win The Great Wolf Games. But eight of the wolves did not stand a chance against the two who always kept themselves far ahead of their competitors: Claudette and Magril. These two females who were unbelievably fast and it left the eight behind them, even Runt and Stinky who already knew how fast their sister and sister-in-law were, awestruck. Still, all ten of the wolves shocked the audience with how quickly and easily they completed the first quarter of the obstacle course. It was as if they had all know what to expect ahead of time and were able to get through it with no trouble for that reason. In reality, that was impossible because none of these competitors even knew there was an obstacle course set up for The Great Wolf Games, until now anyway.

It would not be as simple as the first quarter of the obstacle course from here on out, they realized. Without even having time to react, two or three of the competitors slid off the track due to sudden turns or water and mud slicks. They all landed in the bushes that acted as barricades around the obstacle course, and then whined about losing so soon as they crawled out of those bushes. The seven who were still left on the track were struggling to keep their footing as they had to constantly dodge water slicks and mud slicks, and so many other obstacles like tree trunks and small boulders. It was a boulder that caused another wolf to fly off the track into the bushes, screaming. Within two minutes, only Claudette, Magril, Runt and Stinky were left in the race, and even the two females were understandingly panicking about how they would win this race. At any moment, they were expecting themselves to be launched through the air because of, well, anything on this track. Even the water slicks could do that if they slid across them fast enough. The boulders were the worst for they, and they also _hurt_ when someone impacted them. The audience had gasped in pain when that young male was launched into the air by a boulder. He struck the boulder in a place that really made him scream.

Magril passed Claudette, but her victorious shouting was short-lived. When Magril came up to a small tree trunk, one that she normally would have been able to doge with ease, her feet were wet and muddy. Magril lost all of her footing and landed flat on her butt on a mud slick that only sped her up going down this small hill straight for a tree trunk. First, her right hind leg struck the trunk, resulting in a loud crack. Magril screamed at the top of her lungs and the audience was silent with disbelief. There was no need to argue over what they cracking sound was. The limp leg of Magril went out to her side, and then she struck the tree trunk full force right between her legs. There were large tears welling up in Magril's eyes as she let out a whimper of agony. She clenched her teeth as she fell on her back. Several wolves, who were members of Kate's family, came from the audience to check on Magril as the other three had little choice but to go on. That loud crack they heard told every wolf that Magril must have broken her leg.

Runt, Claudette and Stinky wanted to check on their sister-in-law, but they did not have much choice, it seemed because the judges were shouting at them to finish the race before they checked on Magril, something that angered the three siblings immensely. So they just ran on toward the finish line of the course, despite their overwhelming concern for Magril. Stinky would be the last wolf to go off track when he lost his traction on a water slick and went off into a bush. Stinky whined about losing this race because of nothing more than water as he climbed out of the bush, his short mane littered with debris from the bush. Runt never went off the track, but he did not finish first. Claudette did, and he came in second shortly after his older sister.

Immediately after the race was over and the results were recorded by the judges, the rest of the wolves, the judges included, darted back to where a potentially injured Magril was laying. Lilly and Fleet had been the first wolves to reach the screaming and crying Alpha. Fleet was licking the gash on his little sister's leg. There was a noticeable amount of blood trickling from the gash that trailed up her leg.

"Stay still, Magril," said Lilly. "It will not hurt so much if you do not move. Just let my mother help you," she added as Eve examined Magril's leg, which was clearly broken at the knee, or maybe the ankle. They could not tell right now, but the wolves feared it was both.

"It hurts just as much when I _don't_ move!" cried Magril. She sensed what the others already knew: that her leg was broken. The worst part about this was that her leg would not be completely healed by the day of the actual Great Wolf Games. Mica was feeling as if she was letting her family down, even though Claudette, one of her fellow competitors would not be surprised if Magril won, just by breaking her leg. Magril had yet to ever win anything in The Great Wolf Games because of injuries, and now another chance was ruined for her.


	3. Alone, but Followed

**Chapter Two**

**Alone, but Followed**

Although she was now a great distance from the national park she just fled from, Banff, an exhausted Princess was just as greatly doubting her own safety. The brave she-wolf was also doubting that she would be safe until she reached Jasper, if she ever did. Even then, really, who could guarantee her safety? What was there to stop King and his pack from crossing into enemy territory? To find her, to _kill_ her? Nothing would stop them. Nothing could stop them! Princess knew that, and she knew why, too: the wolves of Jasper infiltrated Banff once, for good reasons, of course, so the wolves of Banff would do the same, only for malicious reasons. Princess doubted that they would ever invade any enemy territory for good reasons. Her pack _never_ did anything for good reasons. There was nothing good about them since Princess was exiled from Banff.

Exhaustion was the primary reason, for she had not stopped traveling to rest until now, but also because of a messy store that suddenly rolled in. Thankfully, at least, Princess would be safe, and be able to rest, for a few hours without interruption. They were stupid, yes, but no wolf from Banff would dare to travel in weather life this. Princess felt that it was hurricane force winds considering how several trees had been uprooted, that she could see from her vantage point in this average-sized cave, anyway. If this storm could uproot even the largest of trees, then common sense (something many of the rogues severely lacked) would say that these winds could blow away and even kill any animal without any effort. Princess considered herself to be very lucky to have got in this cave just before the storm rolled in. She was very familiar with these kinds of winds because of things that happened during her puppy days. All of Princess's younger siblings died in a hurricane, just like this one, because they had, rather foolishly, rushed out of her family cave, in Jasper, and their small bodies were made into a splatter of gore all over the side of their cave. The gory remains were washed away by the heavy rain and winds, so Princess, King and Queen (under different names at the time, which only Princess and King could remember, and Queen could not, in the case of her former name), never would know the fates of those puppies. Caused by hurricanes, these winds were said to lead to powerful tornadoes. Still, Princess was safe in, in a cave, probably once the cave of a grizzly bear, judging by the odor. If there was the scent of a bear in this cave she would be even more safe than she already was. No wolf, not even the Banff rogues, was stupid enough to go into a cave that reeked of bear, even if they also picked up the scent of Princess. The storm would also keep her safe from the rogues.

Princess was now enjoying a deep sleep despite the howling winds, and she was having what was, in her mind, a good dream. It was yet another of those wet dreams Princess constantly had about Runt. This was different from the others from the start: it began with Princess and Runt howling together, with other wolves at The Howling Rock in Jasper, but howling was something they quickly got bored of. So the, in her dreams, married couple decided to "have some fun" a good distance from The Howling Rock. Nobody would follow them because any wolf who had even the smallest amount of common sense would know why two wolves of opposite genders were leaving this mountain together.

Still dreaming, Princess's razor shark claws dug into the soil as Runt mounted her from behind. She felt Runt penetrate. Princess moaned as a result. As a result of this feeling she did not know; it was a feeling she wanted to know so bad in real life from a good wolf like Runt. Princess felt Runt thrusting in her, and, even in real life, it turned her on! She begged him to go faster, and shouted those words in her sleep. She screamed them. A few minutes later, there was two simultaneous screams, in her dream, both Princess and Runt, and one in real life, only Princess, as Runt filled her up with his fluids. Runt was heavily panting and Princess breathing heavily to match. His front legs and head were resting on the shoulders and head of his mate. Princess closed her eyes, in her dream, for a little more than three minutes, the pleasure she felt was so great. When she re-opened her eyes, Princess no longer saw Runt behind her but a rogue wolf from Banff, digging his claws into her neck. He was growling. Princess only had time to let out a scream that was a mixture of terror and pain.

"Yes!" the rogue shouted. "Scream because no one will ever hear you!" And then he tore out Princess's throat.

* * *

"AHHHH!" Princess woke up screaming. She started grasping her throat, as if she was feeling to see if her throat was still there or not. It was there. Princess let out a heavy sigh of relief; she laid down again, sprawling her legs out to the sides of her body.

Princess had no choice but to watch the relentless rain and wind fall and blow. Debris was going with it. Would this storm ever end? Princess just wanted to leave this cave already, so she could finally find Jasper Park and warn the wolves who live there about King's potential intentions to invade and overthrow Jasper, and kill the dominant family of wolves. Princess had never heard her father mention this−King was careful not to discuss anything important around Princess−not even when he said to er mother, Queen, when those two wolves, whom she killed on her own, drove her out of Banff. Rather, Princess _knew_ that King would try and overthrow Jasper, because he always used to talk to her when she was young about getting his vengeance against the Jasper wolves. Princess was the only hope that the Jasper wolves had of preventing King from finally accomplishing his goal. King and Queen _must_ die to put an end to any conflict between Jasper and Banff. If Princess lost her life before finding Jasper, or before having the chance to warn them, at least, then the wolves of Jasper would be doomed and caught off guard by the rogues. On the other hand, if she died after warning them, and King died as well, Princess believed that her death would not be in vain.

* * *

The storm finally came to an end almost four hours later, just as the sun rose into the sky the day after Princess was drove out of Banff. Now was the best time for Princess to leave this cave. If she left now, there would be no chance at all for any rogues, if there were any more following her, to catch up. The messy storm from last night surely washed away her tracks, so anyone tracking her right now would have a hard time doing so. Princess was thinking about how helpful this storm truly was, now, despite delaying her travel by several hours. It surely slowed down the travel of any pursers, she was sure. Princess had not been able to leave the cave at all last night, so how could they have traveled if she couldn't? Princess was starving and she ate all the rodents in the cave she could find before leaving; remarkably, it filled her.

As she walked east, alone, something suddenly occurred to Princess. It was something she had not thought about until now. Princess could not remember the last time she had taken a proper bath. It was before her imprisonment. Princess also realized that the wolves in Jasper may not listen to her, but she would at least have a better chance if she did not reek of body odor, blood and bodily fluids. She could not imagine what they would think of how messy her fur was. It was coated and matted down with dry blood, and coated with bodily fluid, as well as her own blood and sweat. In short, the wolves of Jasper would not find a wolf credible is she smelled like a wolf who hated baths and loved murdering and mating.

For those reasons, Princess found the nearest river to her current location by following the scent and sound of running water. The cold, running water of autumn felt so good when it flowed past her dirty and smelly body. Obviously, Princess was well aware of how bad she smelled and looked. Her breath also stank because of all those bodily fluids those rogues forced her to swallow. But a river would not be enough, on its own, to eliminate her odor. Princess followed the river upstream after getting all of that visible debris out of her fur, until she found a waterfall, where she she-wolf let the wall flower over her body. The intense pressure of this water had a calming effect on the tense wolf. This was surely the calmest Princess had been in two years. Her ears were laid back and she was sitting down, hind legs stuck out in front of her, and paws resting between them. She would occasionally splash the chilly water up at her face or breast.

Princess began lathering the water through her fur with her front paws a few minutes later, starting at her tail and moving upwards until she no longer felt dirty, or smelled, either. Still, Princess kept on rubbing and licking herself until her fur was more well kempt, for another five minutes. She filled her mouth with the fresh water, gargled it and then spit it back into the river. She would not drink any of the water in this river, with all that she had washed off her body. It would not be healthy; she would feel sorry for anyone who drank the water, unless any rogue from Banff did. When she stepped out of the river, Princess felt like a new wolf. She shook her body dry, then rubbed her fur done for a second time. Humans would say that Princess was "squeaky clean," but she did not feel like she was squeaking. _I don't understand humans' terms sometimes_, she thought.

Princess looked around the area until she found a bush of mint leaves. She rubbed her body down with the leaves until she was strong with the odor of mint. Princess hoped that if she smelled strong enough of mint it would mask her scent from other wolves, and her odor, too, until she could think of a way to get rid of it all together. Bathing seemed like the only she could accomplish that, that Princess could think of. She was smart, but not when it came to bathing. The wolves in Banff knew nothing about such an activity, except for Princess anyway. Princess took a paw full of mint leaves and chewed them up to get rid of any remnants of her bad breath, caused by the bodily fluids or blood that have been in her mouth, or just plain bad breath. Princess spit out the paste when she felt like her mouth would smell good enough to speak with other wolves. Of course, she would be a strange thing to smell, a wolf that smelled like a mint bush, but that was better than smelling like she had not bathed in two years.

_Now to get to Jasper_, Princess thought, realizing that she was far from dry yet. She shook her body dry again, succeeding this time. As a result, however, all of her fur puffed up all over her body, giving Princess the appearance of being so much larger than she actually was. Princess looked like a big, brown fuzz ball. Once again, she rubbed and licked her fur down until she looked perfect again. Princess immediately went back to her travels now that this was over with. She still had many miles to go until she was in Jasper, but finally knowing how it felt to be clean again, after almost two years, was a massive morale booster for Princess. She now had even more determination than she had before, to survive longer than she already had to warn the wolves of Jasper about King's intentions. But now, just being so much cleaner made her want to live even longer to be reunited with Runt again. Who knows? Maybe she would finally have the chance to be properly introduced to Runt's family. The only contact Princess had with any of them, other than Runt, was with Humphrey, whom she did not know was Runt's father at the time, when she had flirted with him during his distract that allowed Kate to rescue Runt.

When all this conflict was finally over, if that ever did happen, maybe Princess could finally carry out proper conversations' with Runt and all of his family. But, more than anything, even wanting to get pregnant with the puppies of Runt, Princess was just hoping to finally live the peaceful life she had been wanting to live for so long. A peaceful life, and a life among the gold wolves of Jasper, was all Princess wanted. If Runt was already married to another she-wolf, then, well, a peaceful life was good enough for her, honestly. There were other males in Jasper for her to marry, but Runt would always have a very special place in her heart. There was no wolf Princess would ever love more than Runt, even if he was married.

_Who am I kidding?_ thought Princess. It would kill her if she found out that Runt was married.

All of Princess's hopes that she had just thought about for the past half a mile of walking were all but ruined by a single sound. That was the sound of a twig snapping underneath the paw of a wolf. A wolf that sounded and smelled as if it was not very far from where she was. Princess froze in her tracks, and her ears and hackles all rose until they were sticking up as straight as they would get. She was in a defensive posture, with her teeth barred. She was snarling loudly. Princess looked about the clearing for any sign of a wolf or wolves. She did not see any, and that was something that made Princess feel so much more worse. That was all it did. The calming feeling she had gained from finally being clean was gone. There was not a single ounce of calm left in this she-wolf.

Princess should not have closed, in despair, because when she opened them again, there was a wolf in front of her and a wolf behind her. Princess knew these two were rogue wolves from Banff, judging how badly they stank, and the blood in their coats of fur. The odor of blood was strong on them, stronger than their odor that came from not bathing.

Now, Princess was in a fighting heap with these two wolves. All three of them were snarling, clawing at each other and gnashing their teeth in attempts to kill each other. The rogues were trying to tear out Princess's throat, and she was trying to do the same to them.

There was a sudden spray of blood from the fighting threesome. One wolf lay outside the fray, dead, its throat torn out. One of the rogues thought that it was Princess until he saw her standing right next to him. She was casting a death stare in his direction, staring him right in the eyes. The surviving rogue started to back away from Princess with his tail tucked between his legs. His face was splattered with the blood of his partner. Princess was just as blood as this rogue, if not more, with the throat of the fallen rogue in her jaws. She dropped the ragged chunk of flesh.

"No! I'm sorry!" screamed the rogue. "Just don't kill me! Please!"

Princess did not speak. Acting quickly, she went after the rogue, dragging his body to the ground. He was about three-quarters the six of Princess, so it was an easy task. Princess mercilessly crushed his head in her jaws. She spit on the gore and the shark fragments of bone. Those fragments cut the inside of her mouth in a few spots.

Princess washed the blood out of her mouth and took care of her injuries in her mouth. Going back to the bodies of the two dead rogues, she felt no remorse, none at all, about killing them both so brutally. In fact, she felt that they deserved it. It made her feel so much better when she realized who they were. It was two of the only four male rogues from Banff who beat her for resisting them.

Princess spit on their corpses. "Burn in hell," she told the corpses, before turning away, leaving them for scavengers.


	4. Magril's Replacement

**Chapter Three**

**Magril's Replacement**

"Will Magril be able to compete in The Great Wolf Games?" asked Claudette. "I mean, will her leg be healed in time?"

Claudette had come to the field of Lilly and Garth, whom Fleet and Magril had resided with after leaving their father in the Northern Pack, until Fleet married Claudette, with her little brothers, Runt and Stinky, to check on Magril, who still lived with Lilly and Garth. Magril broke her leg during the bonus round that took place after all the qualifying rounds of The Great Wolf Games were over.

Magril, the little sister of Fleet and the daughter of the Northern wolf Nars, was laying on a massive blanket of mosses, her broken leg stuck out in front of her. It was in a cast. After the accident that broke her leg, Magril happened to be found by the park rangers as Lilly and Garth were leading her to the field in which they lived. For about an entire week, the two park rangers, who lived in the rangers station located between The Howling Rock and the valley, where the Eastern and Western wolves live, took of care of Magril.

First, they put a splint on Magril's leg until the bone healed, and then they put her leg in a cast. Worried about the chance of infection of the area around her broken bone, the rangers also gave her multiple doses of antibiotics a day for that whole week. For the pain, they gave her shots of morphine just as many times a day. To give her and change the cast, the rangers had to give Magril a tranquilizer so she would not hurt herself or them. But when they gave her antibiotics in her dog food or shots of morphine, Magril did not get out of hand. She only whimpered when they stuck the needle in her butt, just above her tail. Magril had just been returned to this field a couple hours ago, unconscious from a tranquillizer and on a massive dosage of morphine for her pain. The dose would not wear off for some time. Magril was awake now, but she was out of her mind, acting like a wolf who ate far too many fermented berries for her own good. Also, the effects of that tranquilizer had not yet worn off. And now, this young wolf would have to wear this cumbersome cast until it broke naturally and just fell off her leg. (Lilly and Garth knew was it was for, so they did not try to take it off Magril.)

When the cast did fall off, Magril leg would be perfectly healed. But that was several weeks away. Several weeks of just laying around in this field, having food brought to her by Lilly and Garth. It would not be so bad if it was not for her broken leg and being so drugged up on morphine. Lastly, there was the unfortunate fact that Magril would miss out on another chance at winning The Great Wolf Games.

"Unfortunately, no," said Lilly. "Magril's leg will not be better until the end of next month. She'll have to just lay around in four field until this cast falls off, but that will not be all. She'll have to go through physical therapy with my mother, Eve, until she can use that leg properly again."

"I am not disappointed with Magril," said Garth, "but it is upsetting that she will miss out on The Great Wolf Games again. There were many wolves anticipating that she would win the games, at least one race, if not all of them."

Claudette and her little brothers now felt bad for their little sister-in-law, Magril. They were thinking about how it could be any of them stuck in their parents' home with a broken leg.

"Magril," said Claudette, "Lilly, Garth." The three wolves looked at her. "I will win The Great Wolf Games for you. I'll do it for you, Magril, more than anyone, this year. I'll be the first to admit that we are equals when it comes to The Great Wolf Games. We could never outdo each other in a fair race."

"There is some bad news, Claudette, that you may not have known about," said Runt, the youngest puppy of Kate and Humphrey.

"What?" Claudette was almost afraid to ask.

"The judges of the games have already chose a replacement for Magril," said Stinky. "The worst part about this is who they chose..."

"Who?" whimpered Magril.

"Your and Fleet's father." Runt paused. "He lost to other mother, during his puppy days, in The Great Wolf Games because he sprained his ankle at the final turn in a race against her."

"Nars?" gasped Garth. Garth was laying by a mound of dirt, his front legs stretched out in front of him. He lifted his head off his paws and shot a look at the other wolves. It was an expression of being upset mixed with a disgruntle look. Garth's ears stuck straight up, then laid back a little. "How could you, Claudette, stand any chance of defeating a strong wolf Nars in a race? Have any of you seen how muscular he is? Nars is known to not tire out."

"No," said Stinky, with a biting sarcasm in his voice. "I do not look at other male wolves' muscles..." He spit on the ground with disgust.

Claudette ignored her brother who had a very fitting name. "Nars has never raced me," she said. "He will be shocked that, while I do not have his endurance, my agility more than makes up for it. No one in this valley, except for Magril, is equal to or faster than I am."

Magril spoke for the first time in a while; her words were slurred because of her impairment caused by the large dose of morphine working on her body. "That is very comforting, but are you sure that my father won't pull some sort of trick to get you disqualified or injured? It would not surprise me if he did."

"Don't worry, Magril. I'll be careful. All I have to do is keep well ahead of your father," said Claudette. She did not sound or look as confident now. "I must go speak with Fleet, alone, about this, to get some advice."

The other wolves could sense how worried Claudette was as she left the field with Fleet, but they did not say anything about it.


	5. Princess Arrives With a Warning

**Chapter Four**

**Princess Arrives With a Warning**

Three Betas−the middle rank of a wolf pack−were resting together at the highest point in Jasper, which was a rock platform over hanging the valley, when they were supposed to be here on watch for danger, specifically rival packs. The three wolves were Claws, Hutch and Scar, the mate of Claws. Although such was not the case when they were only hunting partners, ever since the marriage of Claws and Scar, Claws started caring more about what she looked like. The most noticeable difference was Claws' mane. Originally, she had a mane that was not any shorter than it was now, but one that was more unkempt and dirty, and down the back of her head. Now, her mane was more beautiful than it ever had been. It was well-groomed and no longer dirty or hidden behind her head. It was split down the middle, with each half of the mane over her eyes. Claws could through her mane, but no one could see her eyes through her mane. Claws used to always be considered a wolf with a "brutish bitch" personality, but her personality changed with her opinions about beauty. She was still a vulgar wolf but males now considered her one of the most beautiful she-wolves in all of Jasper, even the younger generations of wolves. They had been together for some time when she started caring about her looks, but it was her new looks that finally convinced Scar to ask his long-time friend and hunting partner to marry him.

Hutch was next to Claws, both of whom had their front legs over the edge of their cliff, and their heads resting on the ground between their front legs. Scar was behind them, looking at his mate's butt. Scar's eyes would occasionally follow Claws' tail whenever she wagged it. The two bored wolves thought that Scar was sleeping, not watching every movement of Claws' tail, as they watched the border of Jasper and Banff for intruders.

Scar heard his mate snarling and that made him forget about watching her tail. Hutch looked to his right as Scar came up alongside his mate. Before Scar was even at her side, Claws' hackles and ears were stickle straight up.

"What's bothering you, dear?" asked Scar.

"Look," she whispered, and pointed at the border of the two parks. "There's a lone female wolf down there. It looks like she wants to cross over into Jasper. She looks familiar, but I cannot put my paw on who she is. Regardless, I don't know if we should be worried or not."

Hutch and Scar ducked down with her. "Let's just stay out of her sight," said Hutch. "Wait to see what she does." The three Beta wolves ducked into a blueberry bush to watch this stranger come closer. The closer she got to Jasper, the better the guards seemed to feel more and more better about her being here. Just considering that she was not running meant that she was not here for the wrong reasons. Still, the group was slightly worried about this wolf, whoever she was. The female was covered in dry blood and she was panting so loudly that they could hear it up on this cliff. They head a good feeling she was alone because they were no places here for other wolves to hide. Anyone who could be with her would have no choice but to either stay around the bend or come with her. For all those reasons, Claws, Hutch and Scar left the bush rather than remaining unnoticed.

Hutch moved all the way to the edge of this overhanging cliff. He shouted for the she-wolf to health her advance, which she did immediately. The trio of Betas made their way down to her.

"Who on Earth are you?" asked Claws.

"Are you alone," asked Scar, "and why are you here?"

"Hutch surely knows me. He saved my life and Runt's life during the battle in Banff," the she-wolf said, much to the shock of these wolves. The name she gave them next was even more surprising. "My name is Princess and I have been exiled from Banff because I refused to accept King's beliefs any longer. I had to kill four rogues form Banff who followed me. Yes, I am alone. I have been for days. Anyone who did follow me from Banff is dead! And I am sure the recently storm has washed away my tracks.

"I am here for more important reasons than to just answer questions," Princess said sourly. "I am here to warn everyone here that the wolves from Banff intend to invade Jasper, murder all of Runt's family and take over all of Jasper."

"How do we know you aren't just lying so you can lead us away from here, so the rest of your pack can get into Jasper?" asked Claws.

"I am NOT making this up!" argued Princess. "You tell me: does the condition of my body look like I would be lying if I told you that I was beaten and starved for almost two years?"

"No..." Claws stuttered, only to be immediately cut off by Princess.

"Listen to me, you three!" barked Princess. "All of these scars are because of the rogues! I would choose death before I would lie to any of you. I was drove out of Banff by two wolves, whom I killed, and then stalked by two other males, whom I also killed. I was exiled from Banff for the killing a wolf, in self defense, who tried mating with me! Before that, he did things to me that you do _not_ want to know about. Look, enough of my sad story, you NEED to warn you Alpha male and Alpha female of this danger. Now!" Princess commanded urgently. She was beginning to panic because these three were not believing her honest warnings!

The trio of wolves looked at each other with concern. "Alright," said Hutch. "Come with us. But know this: you will die _immediately_ if you do anything to harm Kate and her family. Do you understand me, Princess?"

"Yes, I do," said Princess. "Can you get a full course meal, too? I have not ate properly in almost two years." The wolves looked at Princess's body. She was nothing more than skin and bones. The outline of Princess's ribs and hip could be made out clearly. Her fur was missing in patches due to mange and lack of bathing.

* * *

"I do not know what to do anymore," Claudette said to Fleet, her mate. It was just herself and the former Northern Alpha wolf, whom she competed in The Great Wolf Games against as a pup, during their first time competing in the games. The race between them resulted as a tie between the now married wolves. It was during their training for The Great Wolf Games that Claudette and Fleet fell in love.

"About what?" the brown wolf asked.

Claudette had forgotten that Fleet had not been present when her brothers told her that the judges had chose Nars, his father, as a replacement for Magril, his little sister, due to her broken leg. "Your father was chosen to replace Magril as one of my competitors in the race. I have to race Nars."

Fleet let his ears drop to the sides of his head. This news regarding The Great Wolf Games was shocking, to say the least; more so considering he was married to Claudette. Fleet did not hate his father any, but he wanted Claudette to win this year, after the tie last year. Fleet loved Claudette more than his own father. Nars was an abusive father when it came to how he used to treat Fleet and Magril as puppies, when it was anything that involved them winning The Great Wolf Games. All because Nars lost to Kate when they were puppies during his and Kate's first time competing in the games. Claudette and Fleet remembered how, when Magril sprained her paws as a puppy, Nars did not seem to care all that much. What little he had cared was because his daughter would not be able to win the games. They also remembered how Nars threatened to strike Fleet, also a puppy at the time, just for flirting with Claudette. It was because of Nars that Magril never spoke when her father was around.

"I cannot really say, dear," said Fleet. "As much as Magril and I want you to win, we have very little advice to give to, in our opinion, the fastest and strongest wolf of our generation, because I have already been eliminated from the games−my advice would not be great−and Magril is drugged up in Lilly's and Garth's field. However, you can speak with your mother about this. Remember, she defeated my father, in the very type of race you are in with him now, when they were puppies."

"I never considered discussing this with my mother." Claudette sighed. "But..." She was interrupted by the distressed barking of a male wolf. It was not some random wolf, but her uncle Garth, the mate of her mother's sister Lilly. Judging by the sound of Garth's barks and howls, he was trying to get their attention about something important yet bad. Garth ran into the cave, skidding into Claudette. They flipped over each other, resulting in Claudette winding up on top of her uncle. Embarrassed and blushing, she crawled off Garth, who stood up.

When she regained some of her composure, Claudette asked, "What's going on, Garth?"

"You look like you just got done running all over the territory to find us," Fleet added. "You should rest..."

"Claudette, Fleet, there is no time for me to worry about resting," said Garth, panting. "A female wolf from Banff arrived only minutes ago at the border of Jasper. Based on what I've heard, she has disturbing news for us..." The three words "wolf from Banff" immediately caused the hackles of Claudette and Fleet to rise. "You can relax a little. It is Princess. She'll explain at the meeting if we get there in time..."

* * *

Claudette, Fleet and Garth arrived at the meeting grounds of the Central Pack's territory, located at the bottom of the hill where Kate's and Humphrey's cave−formerly the cave of Winston and Eve−was. They arrived just in time to catch the beginning of what Princess had to say. Not only did her tale disturb them, but so did her physical appearance. The last time any of the Jasper wolves saw Princess was almost two years ago and she seemed so healthy and well-groomed then. Now, Princess's auburn fur coat was lack its shiny luster and was coated in dry blood. The scars on her body were countless and several were fresh. She was so much more skinny than when they had last seen her. The shape of her rips were visible through her flesh, as were her hips. Malnutrition, starvation and mange were obviously afflicting her. Those were all obvious even when hardly taking a glance at her body. She had refused treatment for her injuries, and another bath, upon being seen by Eve, mother of Kate and an expert earlier. Her reasoning was that her news was so urgent that she had to tell the pack before she was healed, fed or bathed. She cared more about making this news known than her own well-being.

"Seeing how you are all so concerned about my injuries, that was why I told you the dark tale of my life in Banff ever since you left with Runt," said Princess. "It was King and Queen, _formerly_ my parents, who ordered this done to me, and for that reason, I will always refuse to address them as 'father' or 'mother', and I have long since renounced my allegiance to them. They don't deserve to be called 'father' or 'mother'."

"Why are you here?" an Omega wolf asked rudely.

"To join your pack, first of all," said Princess.

This caused an uproar among the more skeptical, paranoid wolves who doubted that statement. "Why would you join our pack? To spy for your father?"

"He is not my father!" Princess lost her temper. "I would rather cut open my own jugular vein than address him as father. I just got done saying how King has no right to be called 'father'−he does not care like a real father would! He does not even deserve to LIVE! Are my injuries and the poor condition of my body not reason enough for me to condemning my former pack?! Of course it is reason enough!"

The same Omega who doubted Princess still did not trust her and he was tired of her, what he thought as, "lies". He threw a rock at Princess; it struck her in the ribs. There was a crack. Her ribs were so sensitive that the rock left a large bruise, cracked one of the ribs, and caused Princess to bleed. The crowd gasped in horror as Princess lost any composure she had left. "You fool!" she roared. "I will tear out your eyes!" Princess rushed at him, but a few Beta wolves−Hutch, Claws, Scar and Candu−held her back briefly. They failed to her Princess back for long. She was over the smaller male Omega in an instant, digging her claws into his shoulder.

"Damn you! Is this how I am treated for saving one of your Alpha male's and Alpha female's pups after going through Hell for two years?!"

The wolves had been whispering about that Omega's actions and how they were wrong, but now they were silent. That Omega Princess was standing over, threatening to end his life, had no right to do what he did. They felt that he deserved what he was getting, and what he might get. They would not argue that point. He should not have thrown a rock on a already weak and unhealthy wolf like Princess. She did not deserve such poor treatment after two years of Hell, as she worded it, and after all she did for them two years ago.

Princess shoved a good-sized rock in the Omega's mouth, effectively silencing him, and then she walked back to the rock she had been speaking from up on. She spit on this worthless fool, first, before leaving, however.

"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Princess went on, "I was about to tell you why I was here, above any other reason: King is planning to invade Jasper, to take it over. And he will kill to the Alpha family−Runt and his siblings, their parents, grandparents and any other relatives they have−to accomplish this. I am not lying when I tell you this and am I not a spy for that scum whose name is King. I swear on my life, I'm not. Why on Earth would I dare to spare for him when he is the one who ordered this abuse to be carried out?

"Remember, I am the one who saved Runt's life and I almost died to kill my father. This scar on my neck is where my throat was torn open by him, remember? Candy and Sweets barely saved my life; I may have even died on them." She ran her paw down the long scar on her throat carefully, as a reminder of the injury she was willing to sustain for them, for Runt. "Now, I will leave you all to talk about this. I have warned you, but I must go see Eve to get my injuries checked out, and a meal. I have not ate properly for two years, and I am well past starvation. I am so weak and sick...just look at my body."

Princess almost fell over on her side when she tried to walk away. Eve and the two female Omegas who saved her life during the battle in Banff after her throat was slashed, Candy and Sweets, best friends since their puppy days, had to lead her into Kate's cave slowly and gently. Eve got Princess's blood, from where the rock struck her, on her light brown fur. Princess moan and whimpered in agony as she was led up the hillside by the three females.

At first, only the relatives of Runt felt sorry for Princess, but now, because of the malnutritioned wolf's statements, their entire pack believed and felt bad for her.

Runt, the only wolf in Jasper who truly knew how good a wolf Princess was, cast a look at his older sister and older brother, Claudette and Stinky. They seemed just as worried about Princess as Runt was. Princess was literally the only reason that their little brother wasn't killed by the rogues in Banff, after all, when he was taken by them. No words needed to be said. Claudette and Stinky knew what Runt was thinking.

"Of course, Runt," Claudette said in a shooting yet sad voice. She was crying, as were her brothers. "We'll go check on Princess."

* * *

Runt would not get to see the wolf who saved his live when he was a puppy. Eve met them at the opening of their mother's cave. She told her grandpups this: "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you cannot see Princess right now. She is in a bad place and may not survive the hour..."


	6. Let the wolf games begin!

**Chapter Five**

**"Let the wolf games begin!"**

Much to the joy of Runt, Princess not only survived the coma she went into but the next time he saw her, she had made a complete recovery. It was two weeks after Princess's arrival, now time for The Great Wolf Games. Princess was finally reunited with Runt, the youngest of Kate's and Humphrey's litter, the pup whom she saved the life of. Secretly, Runt was her first, and only, true love.

Runt was at the track where the competitors would be racing with four other wolves−his older siblings Claudette and Stinky, and the mate of Claudette, Fleet. Magril, the little sister of Fleet, was also present, only after the negative side effects of all that morphine the park rangers gave her, for her broken leg, wore off. It was feeling better, but Magril's broken leg was still in a cast, and it would have to stay in this cast until it (the cast, not her leg) split and fell off. Until then, Magril would have to make her way around on three legs rather than four.

Fleet and Magril were watching Runt, Claudette and Stinky race each other around as practice for The Great Wolf Games, which were scheduled to begin very shortly.

Princess approached the four wolves now. The pups of Kate and Humphrey, Fleet and Magril saw Princess immediately, and were shocked by the transformation she made since they last saw her. Most noticeably, the shape of her bones were no longer visible through her flesh. Her fur had regained its luster, and it was much cleaner and more well-groomed than when she arrived n Jasper. Princess looked _much_ better physically, but no one could judge her on whether she was feeling better mentally.

Princess had all of her weight that she lost in the two years as a slave in Banff back, Eve, the mother of Kate and Lilly, Candy and Sweets had fed her so much in her two weeks of recovery. No, Princess looked much better than two years ago, and she had been more healthy looking than the other rogues then, too. As long as the wolves of Jasper knew her, this was the best Princess ever looked. She was more fat than when they met her in Banff, possibly because the supply of food was much better in Jasper for wolves than it was in Banff. All of the rogues from, even King, were skinny, especially when compared to their enemies in Jasper. Princess was definitely the attest Banff rogue any of them had ever seen.

The five wolves completely forget about The Great Wolf games, including the practice runs around the track. They made their way over to Princess. Obviously, Runt was the first to reach her. What Claudette, Stinky, Fleet and Magril saw Princess and Runt do would have made the four think that these two wolves were mates, if they didn't know better. Princess and Runt ran their wet noses through each other's cheek fur, and their manes before they spoke. This was normally how a wolf greeted his or her mate after being separated for a long time. Princess and Runt had been separated from each other for a long time, but they weren't mates. Were they?

Princess pulled her nose out of Runt's mane, her thoughts changing from learning his scent to what it was the three siblings were doing on this...this...she didn't even knew the word for this thing they had appeared to be chasing each other around. Their actions confused her. "What was it the three of you were doing, chasing each other around this...thing?" she asked.

"Oh, we weren't chasing each other," said Runt. "It's called a track-" He motioned toward the track with his paw. "-we were racing each other around it to practice for The Great Wolf Games."

Runt was clearly just as excited to see Princess again, after almost two years, as she was to see him again. It was mating season in Jasper and that could be playing a small roll in his excitement. Runt was trying to hide it from at least his siblings and Magril and Fleet, but he was in heat. The presence of Princess, a female whom he was attached to, and not related to, was making Runt's heat so much more intense. He couldn't stand it, but was trying not to scream, whimper or anything. Thankfully, it seemed, Princess was the only wolf here who could smell Runt's heat. Runt was thinking, hoping, that Princess would satisfy him, but she's from Banff, where it is not mating season. Princess was not in heat, but the scent of Runt's heat was starting to change that.

Princess tried not to bring herself to mate with Runt in public, but there was something she wanted to know. "What is The Great Wolf Games?" Princess cocked her head in confusion.

"The Great Wolf Games is a competition, almost a tradition of the wolves in Jasper," said Magril, willing to speak since her abusive father, Nars, was not even in the Central territory, "where all the wolf pups and adolescent wolves come to compete in all kinds of events." Princess was distracted by how much Magril resembled Claudette, except that she had white and gray fur rather than brown. "We are required to compete in teams of five, per competition, against each other. In Claudette's, Stinky's and Runt's case, the competition is a race. The final race of this year's games was going to be between Claudette and I, until I broke my leg-" she pointed at her cast with her tail. "-and now, Fleet's and I's father, Nars, has replaced me as Claudette's competitor."

"Is there some way that I could join in now," asked Princess, "or is it too late to do so?"

"Unfortunately, Princess," said Fleet, "it is too late to join The Great Wolf Games. You could have if you had been here at the start of the qualifying rounds. In addition to that, you would not be allowed to compete against us. You are an adult wolf, so you would have to compete in the games meant for adult wolves, which are the most difficult games. We will be old enough to compete in the adult games next year."

"Then why is your father taking part in your games?" asked Princess.

"Because no other wolf was willing to challenge my mate, Claudette," explained Fleet. "Otherwise, he would be competing against other adults."

"When do these 'Great Wolf Games' begin?"

"Tonight," said Stinky.

"I'll try to be there tonight, supporting your team," she said to the siblings. "But right now, I have to get to a meeting with the elder wolves regarding my warning about the rogues planning to avoid Jasper."

Hardly in a discreet fashion, Princess flirtatiously batted her thick eye lashes at Runt before turning away. Runt's head moved back and forth, matching the movements of Princess's hips as she walked away. Laughing, Claudette playfully cuffed her little brother on the shoulder.

"What?" Runt gasped innocently.

"We saw what you were looking at!" Magril giggled.

"Wh...what would that be?" stuttered Runt.

"We saw you watching the movements of Princess's butt!" laughed Stinky.

"I saw?" Runt was not successful in his attempt at making it seem like he wasn't looking at Princess's butt. A dead giveaway was how his head had been moving as Princess walked away, and that he was drooling. He did not want to say it, but Runt thought that Princess had an attractive rear. It was rare when Runt stared at females' rears, but Princess's was the biggest one he had ever looked at, and the best one, he thought.

"Yes, you were," said Fleet, chuckling.

"Do you love Princess?" Magril burst out with the one question that was on everyone's minds. Runt did not know, but this was still an embarrassing question to be asked. Runt blushed, and that was about all the response the others would get. Runt looked down at his front paws, which he was moving around nervously. Claudette, Stinky, Fleet and Magril laughed in unison. Runt blushed even more. He was blushing so strongly that it was visible through the fur on his cheeks.

* * *

On the night when The Great Wolf Games began, the weather was perfect. Perfect for the opening rounds of the games. The wind was not blowing, so it was not too cold for the wolves, in the audience and those who were competing. It was not storming and no clouds were in the sky. It was a starry night and it was a full moon.

The wolves were getting ready for the first race of the games, gathering at the starting line. Each wolf was in teams of five, but only one member of each team was at the starting line. These wolves would race each other along the first fifth of the track. After they reached the next starting like, the second five wolves would race to the third starting line, and so on, until Claudette, Nars and three other wolves would race each other across the most difficult part of the track. The wolves could leave the starting line as soon as their team mate made contact with his or her paw. This race would be a test of agility and teamwork.

There was still five minutes before the race started, so Princess was speaking with Runt, and Fleet was speaking with Claudette. Princess and Fleet were giving motivational words to the wolves whom they loved so much. Once again, the presence of Princess put Runt into a phase of heat.

Runt changed the subject from the race to his heat. He was nervous and tried not to go too far with the subject of mating. He whispered in Princess's ear. She seemed to be turned on by Runt's words, which were hardly suggestive.

"You know, Princess," whispered Runt, "it is mating season in Jasper, and I am in heat, with no mate-" Princess's tail wagged with excitement not only because Runt was asking to her mate with him, but primarily because she had just learned Runt was single! "When the games are over for the night, would you want to be my mate? I know a private place at The Howling Rock..."

"Hey, rogue, get off the track!" a wolf shouted.

"Eh, why don't you miss my tail!" retorted Princess, who saw the wolf receive a heavy blow across the back of his head from a she-wolf whom she assumed was that wolf's grandmother. It was an elderly wolf.

Runt went back to whispering in Princess's ear, at volume which only she could hear. "If it is soon for you wanting to mate, that is fine. We can just court each other and..." Runt whispered the rest in an almost inaudible voice.

Princess's eyes shot open in anger at Runt's words, which brought back those awful memories of her life in Banff. "WHAT?!" she screamed, drawing the attention of the other wolves. "How dare you ask me that! You can court me, but that is too far after all I went through in Banff!" Princess lowered her voice back to a whisper, so only Runt would hear what she said next. "I'll give you what you want if Claudette ever loses in the games!"

"But...but...that will never happen," Runt whispered, with a whimper in his voice.

"Exactly!" she whispered harshly. "Go put yourself in another female's mouth until your sister loses! You are lucky I'd never hate you." Princess stormed away, back to the audience. Before she sat among the other wolves, she ranted in her mind about what Runt wanted from her.

_If only he knew what I went through every day for two years of my life, in Banff!_ she thought, almost condemning Runt for his request, other than mating with her. _He'll be disappointed when he never gets one from me when he sees that Claudette will NEVER be defeated by the other wolves in these games. He won't get in my muzzle until we're married!_ That was the end of it all. She dropped the subject.

Princess was just here for the race, to have a good time, not rant about Runt being in heat. Princess wasn't angry at Runt, not at all. She just disapproved of his second request, and she was not in the mood for mating right now. Princess quickly forgave her Runt for it; she would let him know she forgave him later. It would be too soon after her reaction.

Now, Princess was laying on her belly, next to Magril, like nothing even happened. The other wolves knew that it was wise if they did _not_ ask her what happened, if they did not want blood to be drawn by Princess. The audience simply watched as five wolves lined up at the starting line. They were Runt−a Western Wolf−and Mica−an Eastern wolf and mate of Stinky−then wolves from the Northern and Southern packs, and from the small pack in Red Deer Park.

At each starting line, each of which began every fifth of the track, there was one adolescent wolf from each of these packs. Altogether, twenty-five wolves were taking part in this race, but the only well-known wolves were Runt, Claudette, Stinky, Mica and Nars. The rest were relatively unknown wolves, including a Northern wolf called Ed, who was a friend of Fleet. (Magril was silent now that her father, Nars, had arrived, and was within hearing range of her.)

It was Princess's first time every watching The Great Wolf Games−as a pup, King had never told her about it, and did all he could to keep her from knowing about it−and she was enjoying it. Princess enjoyed some friendly competition between rival packs and between wolves, something that did not exist in the entirely different "Blood Sports" of Banff. Now, it was a race between Claudette, Nars and three other wolves from the Eastern, Southern and Red Deer Packs.

Princess was shouting for Claudette to win. As much as she loved Runt, she did not want to have a taste of him, until she was over her memories of doing that so many times a day for two years, to the rogues in Banff. Words could not describe how much Princess despised those damned rogues who didn't even deserve to be called wolves. They were _not_ normal at all. Nothing was normal about them. They loved violence and murder, like no other wolf pack did. Wolves did not murder when they killed−they killed to eat, not for sport. Wolves mated to actually show love, to extend their families, not just to make themselves feel good, without even caring about any pups that resulted from their mating. The rogues in Banff killed and mated just for sport, not for any practical purpose, even on hunts and during mating season. They wasted so much food on hunts, just killing what they found and leaving it to suffer rather than ending, say, a caribou's life, and eating all the meat. They just let their victims bleed out and rot. It was no wonder why there was a famine in Banff−the rogues caused it!

So far, wolves on the Western team−Runt, Stinky and two females called Claudia and Sofía, sisters−had all won their parts of the race. The Eastern, Northern, Southern and Red Deer wolves had no wins. (Stinky felt bad for the Eastern Wolf Mica, who was his mate, even though she was not angry at him for her team not having any victories. She loved Stinky too much, especially after how he saved her life on a hunt gone wrong, when caribou stampeded and she was almost trampled to death. She would have died if it was not for Stinky's sudden intervention, tackling her out of the way. Stinky and Mica had known each other for some time, but she had the intentions of marrying another wolf until Stinky saved her life. As of now, Stinky and Mica were only married, having not mated yet. They were waiting until after she was eliminated from the games, if that happened, to mate, so she would not be pregnant and at risk of being injured.)

It was now even between Claudette and Nars, with the other three wolves competing against them far behind. Princess and the rest of the Western, even some of the Eastern pack, were all on edge as they witnessed Claudette and Nars constantly passing each other. Princess's heart was beating rapidly, more so when Claudette tripped up, but did not fall, over a rock. Nars passed Claudette, and crossed the finish line before she could catch up with him. Claudette was disappointed about losing; never could she have stubbed her paw on a rock at a worse time. At least she was not seriously injured and would be able to compete in future races.

_I'll have to be more careful and observant in the future,_ Claudette scolded herself.

Princess's jaw dropped wide open. Not only would she have to now do to Runt the one thing she despised doing because of those damn, sick-minded rogues, she found it unbelievable that Claudette lost this race just because she stubbed her paw on a rock, after hearing how Claudette was the best at racing. It made Princess doubt if this was entirely accurate. Princess knew that she never would have lost because of a stinkin' rock if she was in a race, even if she stubbed her paw on it! That wouldn't have made any different to Princess, considering she knew much worse pain than stubbing her paw.

Princess's expression did not change a whole lot as her eyes moved in Runt's direction. When she saw his expression−eyes wide open with happiness for what was to come, and his tongue hanging out of his muzzle, drooling−Princess wanted to claw that look right of his face! Princess's own expression went from one of shock to a more disgruntle one. It was clear that she was upset by this, and disgusted just thinking about what now had no choice but to do.

Princess closed her eyes as Runt cast a sly smile at her. Runt did not want to say anything about her losing their bet, if it could be called a bet, anyway. But he was hoping that Princess was good with her tongue.

Princess opened her eyes, and regretted it, to Claudette laughing.

"I heard about your's and Runt's bet, Princess!" shouted Claudette. "I wish you luck, both of you!"


	7. At The Howling Rock

**Chapter Six**

**At The Howling Rock**

As Princess and Runt came closer to The Howling Rock, the howls of the other Jasper wolves grew louder. There were so many wolves here−every Jasper wolf of the two youngest generations−that it made Princess nervous. So many wolves whom she did not know. Runt was aware of the fact that Princess's ears had dropped along the sides of her head.

Princess stopped in her tracks and began whimpering. Would they all treat her like that Omega she almost killed, or would they treat her like Runt, Claudette, Stinky, Fleet and Magril? Princess, her voice shaking asked Runt.

"Of course they'll be kind to you," said Runt, in a reassuring voice. "It is rare to find rude wolves in my pack. If anyone bothers you, get near me or let them know you are here to howl with me."

"I don't want to deal with anymore stress," Princess whispered.

"No one will bother you, dear-" Princess shuttered. "Dear" was a word that wolves used to address their mates, and she were not married. _Yet..._she thought. "-everyone is here just to howl, court with other mates, or to mate. No one would cause trouble. You'll be fine..." Runt ran his nose through Princess's mane, and then licked her on the cheek. Licking another wolf's cheek was the proper fashion in which wolves kissed. It was difficult for them to use their muzzles for a kiss. This "kiss" seemed to have a calming effect on Princess.

"We'll go to the highest peak of The Howling Rock," whispered Runt. "That is where my siblings and other relatives howl. Remarkably, even Magril is there, despite her broken leg."

* * *

"Who is that beautiful howler?" Princess asked, impressed, as she and Runt reached the peak of The Howling Rock. They heard the most beautiful howling they'd ever heard.

"It is actually two wolves howling tether. It is Claudette and Magril," he added. "They make for a beautiful duet, when you get them together, as you have pointed out. You will never find two females who can perform a better duet than Claudette and Magril, that is for sure. Who knows, maybe Magril will finally get lucky tonight, and find a mate, someone who will love her whether she has a broken leg or not."

"What do you mean?" Princess asked.

"Males have avoided her ever since she broke her leg," explained Runt. "They think it will affect puppies they would have with her, and that it affects her howling. If you ask me, they're crazy. My grandmother, Eve, has told them that a broken leg can't be passed on to puppies, by giving them a deformed leg. And, I think Magril's broken leg has made her a better howler."

When the unofficial couple of Princess and Runt joined the wolves on the platform, Magril was no longer howling in a duet with Claudette. Each female was now howling with a male wolf. Claudette was howling with her mate, Fleet, and Magril was howling with a Southern wolf called Liam. Liam had been attracted to this elevation by the duet performed by Claudette and Magril. He requested to howl with a still single duet.

Magril was formerly an Alpha of the Northern Pack, now an Alpha of the Western Pack, and Liam, a wolf with tan fur, was a Southern Beta wolf.

Liam was complimenting Magril's beauty and howls as Runt tried to convince Princess to howl with him. Finally, Princess gave in and let out a long howl so beautiful that it provoked all the males, who were not courting or married already, to gather around Princess, much to the anger of the females they had already been howling with. These females shot angry looks at their males, whom were oblivious to their dates' anger. The majority of the females left while their dates admired Princess to find other males who were looking for females to howl with or to marry.

The males were all begging Princess to howl with her. They were obviously disappointed to learn that Princess was already here on a date with Runt. The disappointed crowd of males dispersed, most of them to find themselves alone, shocked that their dates had left so quickly. Only a few were left, and it was a while before they forgave their dates, and then they went back to howling together. The rest found their dates with other males, and those females told them they were over.

"I expected that," laughed Princess.

Runt was in awe of his date's howl, and he let her know it in the most flattering way possible, by licking her between the eyes. Princess returned the act, only by licking Runt not across the cheek, or between the eyes, but across his thin muzzle. Princess's actions made Runt's face blush so red that his cheeks looked like two tomatoes. Tomatoes weren't as red as his face was. Princess whispered "I love you" in Runt's eyes, and then convinced him to start howling with her. That was the whole reason they were hear, after all.

Stinky was howling with his younger mate Mica, an Eastern wolf who was an orphan because her mother and father had left with King and the other rogues after the increase in the amount of Betas and Omegas marrying Alphas. They considered her a runt wolf when she was several months old, even though she was an Alpha like they were. No one adopted Mica, and so she lived with Reba and Janice, also loners, until her life was saved by Stinky, and she married him.

Stinky and Mica stopped howling, they were so impressed by Princess's howls.

"Who would have thought that Princess could howl like that?" said Stinky, casting a sly look at his mate's rear. For being smaller than he was, she had a big rear, Stinky thought. Her tail was bushy, and it was amusing to watch. If he was a puppy, Stinky would have been playing with Mica's tail like he used to play with Kate's and Humphrey's before he was deemed an Alpha, and felt like such actions were not appropriate for the future Alpha male, after his father, Humphrey, was too old to be the Alpha male. Stinky would also be the dominant wolf in the pack after Kate, rather than a female, because he was the oldest son of the Alpha male and Alpha female. (Kate was the dominant wolf of the pack because Humphrey was an Omega, and Winston and Eve had no sons.)

Mica was a beautiful wolf, and the light of the full moon made her appear as so much more beautiful than she really was. The full moon's light increased the luster of Mica's fur coat; it now had a luster that it didn't any other time of the month.

"The best wolves and howlers always come from the worst upbringings," said Mica. "Fleet and Magril and Garth are all perfect examples, Stinky," Mica added as she rubbed the top of her head underneath Stinky's chin. Mica loved the scratchiness of the fur under his chin; it made her wag her tail uncontrollably. She loved the scratchiness of Stinky's chub as much as that silly tuft of fur between his ears.

So caught up in howling with their mates, or dates, these were wolves, they did not even notice the rogues watching them silently from the bushes...


	8. The Swimming Hole

**Chapter Seven**

**The Swimming Hole**

The wolves who had planned to howl the night away at The Howling Rock−Princess and Runt, Claudette and Fleet, Magril and Liam, Stinky and Mica−got bored of howling with their mates, and, in the cases of Princess and Runt, and Magril and Liam, howling with their dates.

However, since none of them were in the mood to mate, even though it was that time of year in Jasper. The eight wolves had asked each other what they could do other than mating. It was Magril who suggested that they go to the swimming hole located to the southwest of The Howling Rock, and so they did. They went there to rest in the hot spring before they went back to their caves for the night.

Magril and Liam were the only of the eight wolves not in the water, because of the weight of Magril's cast. It was so heavy that it would weigh her down in the hot spring.

Claudette was laying on her back in the water with her front legs resting on her belly as she floated around the hot spring.

The rest of the wolves were up to their necks n the hot, bubbling water. It seemed that Princess, a rankless wolf, having not yet been deemed an Alpha, a Beta, or an Omega by Kate, the dominant wolf of the united Eastern and Western packs. It was not because they didn't trust Princess−who saved the life of Runt, after all, was the only reason Runt was alive now−but it took them some time to figure out what a wolf was good at. If Kate deemed Princess an Alpha, the highest rank in a wolf pack, Princess would have to prove to be one of the strongest wolves in the pack, as well as one of the smartest, bravest and fastest.

In Princes as deemed an Omega, the role she would serve in the pack was as a part of the hunting part, and/or one of the wolves who guarded the border of Jasper and Banff. Lastly, if she was deemed an Omega, the lowest rank in a wolf pack, she would only have a single role: to follow the Beta wolves responsible for training young wolves to hunt, when the parents were too busy to do so. Omegas only followed the Betas to provide support if there was conflict with rival packs. Personally, Princess felt that she would be best suited as a Beta wolf. In Banff, even in Jasper when she was an adolescent, being an Alpha had always felt wrong to her. Princess was hoping that Kate saw a true Beta in her so she would have her dream rank, or even an Omega so she would be like Runt. Anything but an Alpha would suit Princess, she thought.

The wolf from the Southern Pack, an Alpha whose name was Liam, who was interested in Magril for that wonderful duet with Claudette, was speaking with Magril now, within earshot of the six wolves in the water.

"Magril," said Liam, "would you want to be my mate?" he asked. "If it is too soon, in your mind, to marry, I will wait until you are ready. I love you, Magril," he added.

Now, the wolves in the water were watching Liam propose to Magril, rather than swimming with each other, as the white wolf's eyes were welling up with tears. "Oh...Liam," she sighed. "I will gladly be your mate...but...but my broken leg will complicate us mating..."

"I will still want to be your mate even before your leg is as perfect as your howling," he flattered Magril. "Nothing will change my feelings about you, and we have literally just met each other. I want to grow old and die with you. You, my dear, are the most beautiful female I have ever met."

Magril was crying tears of joy. She wanted, so badly, to huge Liam, but her broken leg prevented such an action. To make up for that, Magril put her face in Liam's and licked his muzzle affectionately.

The wolves in the water watched on as Magril and Liam made themselves familiar with each other's scents by smelling each other's necks, and the glands under their tails. Next, they bit each other, gently, on the hackles of their necks, an act that marked them as mates for life. Watching his little sister court was the best thing to ever happen to Fleet since he went through this very ceremony with Claudette. Fleet was, like all the others, shedding tears of joy for his little sister.

Princess was smiling, and meaning it, for the first time in two years. This courting ceremony was so much different, so much better, than the bloody courting ceremonies of the rogues. In Banff, the gentle nip on Magril's neck would have been a bite that took a small chunk of flesh out, and then she would have put her head between Liam's legs to learn his scent. And do other things that were best left unmentioned.

The Banff rogues were sick in the mind. This was the best courting ceremony of two wolves Princess ever attended. Very little blood was shed, and it was not shed in a violent act. Magril and Liam weren't engaging in acts that the audience wouldn't want to see. Princess was so happy for Magril and Liam, and Fleet and the rest of their family. This was the only time Princess ever shed tears of joy and smiled at a wedding. In Banff, Princess always went to the weddings because she was forced to, but they never gave her these feelings that this wedding did. The reality was that the weddings in Banff made Princess sick and they angered her, even though she never showed it when they took place. They were _not_ what weddings should be.

What Princess saw in the interaction between Magril and Liam actually made her happy. It made her more willing to ask Runt to marry her sooner than she planned. It tempted her to marry Runt here, in this hot spring, right now.

The two wolves watching this all from the bushes were the same wolves watching them from the bushes at The Howling Rock. They were about to vomit at the sight of this peaceful wedding that was not like the ones rogues knew. In Banff, blood was drawn from the bites to the neck, and the female would have forced her head between his legs with the intention of learning his scent and swallowing his bodily fluids. None of that took place before the wedding was over, and the six wolves in the water went back to swimming after the congratulated these wolves on being married.

It was all too much for these two rogues from Banff. They let out angry snarls and ran at the new married wolves, Magril and Liam. Before they made any contact, Princess leaped out of the water and had one of the rogues of by the throat. She would not release her grip any time soon. Fleet had the throat of the other rogue in his jaws. The other six were obviously shocked by how quickly, how suddenly, Princess and Fleet reacted.

"You can let them go," said Claudette, the highest ranking wolf here. "They wouldn't dare try anything else if they want to live...for now, at least."

Princess and Fleet dropped the rogues.

"How did you know they were here?" asked Stinky. His hackles were still raised.

"Fleet and I could smell them," explained Princess. "We were expecting them to do something, but we waited for them to act first. We knew they would not accomplish a damn thing!" She spit at the rogues, who were panicking.

"What do we do now?" asked Magril, still shaking with fear, now being hugged by her new mate, Liam.

"We'll take these two scumbags to Kate and Humphrey," said Princess. "They'll know how to deal with them."


	9. Suspicions Aroused

**Chapter Eight**

**Suspicions Aroused**

"You lead them here, rogue!" a Beta wolf called Candu shouted at Princess. "I had a bad feeling about you from the beginning! Why don't you just leave Jasper before someone gets hurt or killed? Face it, your pack is looking for you."

"They aren't my pack!" argued Princess. "And why don't you leave? I know a good place you can go called HELL!" she roared.

"STAND DOWN, CANDU!" roared Claws, an Eastern Beta wolf sympathetic of Princess. "If you say anything else like that to her, I will cuff you so hard you cry for your mama to save you!"

Scar, the mate of Claws, and Hutch, also Betas, stepped between Claws and Princess, and Candu. "Keep that miniature dog away from me or he may regret what he says in the future," hissed Claws.

"Who are these two?" asked Kate, intentionally changing the subject.

"They are rogues from Banff," said Stinky. There was a gasp from all the wolves present in Kate's and Humphrey's cave. "They would have killed Magril and her new mate, Liam, if it was not for the actions of _Princess_-" Stinky shot an expression of anger at Candu, who now felt bad about his actions. "-and Fleet. No one was hurt thanks to Princess being more than any of us. Even when watching the courting ceremony of Magril and Liam, she was able to sense that these two were watching us from the bushes by the hot spring."

Kate turned to the two rogues, who were hog-tied with vines. She had a frightening expression that one would expect on the face of Eve, not Kate. The tone of her voice matched her look.

"Why are you two here?" she asked, and received no answer. "Answer me!" she shouted, "or Princess will take care of you!"

The rouges saw Princess snap her jaws at them, and over-anxiously click her claws on the cave floor.

The rogues screamed. The female spoke, her voice tainted by terror. "We came here for Princess, but that wedding−it made us sick!" Princess cuffed her, drawing blood, and tearing an ear off.

"Who are you?" asked Princess. They hesitated. "Does your buddy here want to lose some body parts like you? You surely heard about the male I sterilized for what he did to me, before my exile."

There was still no answer from them that told them what they wanted to know. Princess let out an intense snarl, and, with the most violent intentions, she slammed her massive paw between the male's legs. He panicked when he saw how close her paw had come.

"My name is Melissa!" the female screamed.

And the male screamed, "Geoff! My name is Geoff!"

Princess found herself believing these two, as they begged for their lives, but she would not even think about being nice to this male. She knew him as the only male her gave her daily beatings, and she let the others know it before she did what she did.

"I've always said you male rogues are bitches," said Princess. "Now let me make you one..."

As soon as Princess extended her razor-sharp claws, which she prided in keep extra sharp, the rest of the wolves including Melissa looked away. All they heard was flesh tearing and the screams of Geoff.

Reluctantly, the wolves looked back to see blood all over Princess's right paw and a pool of blood between Geoff's legs.

"What do you want form us?!" screamed Melissa.

"Nothing from you, at least not in the form of revenge," growled Princess. "That was my vengeance for him beating me daily."

"We want you to tell us _everything_ that King is planning," said Kate. "Lie and you will meet a worse fate than your buddy here."

"No. I will not betray King," wept Melissa. "He'll kill me if he finds out!"

"I'll kill you if you don't betray him..." snarled Kate.

Kate's ears stuck straight up and so did her hackles, and the mane on the back of her head. She shot a death glare at Melissa, wrinkled her nose, and grimaced wickedly. Not only were Kate's knife-like teeth visible, but so were her gums as she snarled viciously.

"You're damned if you remain silent and you're damned if you cooperate with us," continued Kate. "Look, you can stay here for your own safety if you are entirely cooperative with us, so long as you do not do anything to hurt anyone. I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself if you hurt or kill ANYONE.

"Would you rather be killed by me or King, or ally yourself with us? I am offering your both chances at new lives, and safety from the rogues."

Melissa was immediately cooperative, and she was not faking anything. "Yes, ma'am," the frightened rogue said, her body still shaking. Melissa's tail was tucked between her legs and her ears were laid back; this was a posture of submission. "I will be honest with you all. If war comes to Jasper, I will die in your name..."

"Kate," the Alpha female said.

"I will die in your name, Kate. I have _never_ supported King from the start, if I am completely honest with you. There is a good reason I never beat you, Princess..."  
"Are you insane?!" screamed Geoff, already weak from blood loss. "I will never support these wolves! The enemy!"

"Then will not leave my cave alive!" growled Kate, and then she tore his jugular vein open with her long teeth.

Geoff was dead before a minute could go by.

"Get his worthless carcass out of my cave. We can clean up the blood later," said Kate.

The four Beta wolves Claws, Hutch, Scar and Candu removed Geoff's lifeless body and returned a few minutes later.

"Thank you for your cooperation, unlike your friend-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Geoff was not my friend."

"Yes, I'm sorry for the mistake. Anyway, Melissa, what is King planning?"

"King and his mate Queen are planning to invade Jasper," said Melissa. "He told me everything he was planning. It involves all of your family, Kate."

"What?" gasped Kate.

"King plans to murder all the members of your family to call himself the Alpha male of Jasper _and_ Banff."


	10. A Few Proposals

**Chapter Nine**

**A Few Proposals**

Kate, all of her family, Princess and the Beta wolves were all deeply disturbed by the war plans of king that Melissa just detailed to them. It was too well-summarized for Melissa to have told them a lie, as much as they wanted to this news to be a lie.

"Is there anything else King wants?" asked Humphrey, the Alpha male, and mate of Kate.

"He did not tell me anything I have not told you," said Melissa, "but we can all reasonably assume that he will either kill or re-capture Princess and Runt."

"I will murder King if he comes to Jasper, if he lays a paw on any of you!" Princess snapped. "He is a fool if he thinks we won't fight back against them if they come here."

"King does not realize that many wolves from the Northern and Southern Packs are here," said Magril. "If we can convince them to fight with us when the rogues come to Jasper, we will outnumber them. And with Melissa on our side now, we have a massive advantage. Melissa knows a lot of King's plans about invading Jasper, and all of his wolves' battle tactics."

"But," said Lilly, "how do we know if Melissa and Geoff are the only rogues who infiltrated Jasper?"

"Unless King has gone behind my back," said Melissa, "then I am the only rogue in Jasper now. I do not know what King is thinking, especially when I am not around."

"You do not know for sure?" asked Eve, the mother of Kate and Lilly.

"How will you feel, Melissa, if someone is hurt or killed?" asked Garth.

Melissa took offense to that question. "How dare you ask me that?" she barked. "_I _would rather die than know that one of you died because of my ignorance!"

"Garth," Kate harshly said to the wolf whom she almost married three years ago. "That is enough. If you don't have anything useful to say, then put a pinecone in it."

Mica raised her left paw. "What are we going to do?" She was resting her head on the tail of her mate, Stinky.

"Right now, our plan is to send a few messengers to the Northern and Southern territories to, hopefully, convince them to support us in the fight against the rogues. However, if we cannot gain the support of the Northern and Southern wolves, we will fight them on our own and hope for the best." Kate looked down at her daughter-in-law.

"Who are you sending out," asked Runt, "to negotiate with the other packs?"

"I was thinking about sending Princess and Melissa to the Northern Territory, and Claws and Scar to the Southern Territory," his mother said. "If anyone can negotiate successfully, it is Princess, Claws and Scar. I am sending Melissa with Princess to back up our story. You all how hard to convince of anything those Northern wolves are."

* * *

Princess and her traveling partner Melissa were ten minutes from the Northern Territory when Melissa said she needed to take care of business in the bushes. Simply because Melissa was a rogue and she had quite willingly attacked then, Princess did not trust her entirely.

So when Melissa did not return from the bushes after seven minutes, it was no surprise that this made Princess even more suspicious. She went into the bush where she saw Melissa go. The brown wolf was not there, but there was urine in a small hole dug up by Melissa.

Princess looked up. There were footprints heading towards and through the bushes at the other side of the clearing. Princess went through the bushes and she was immediately jumped by another wolf. A brown wolf, and not just any brown wolf. It was Melissa who was on Princess's back. Melissa was so much smaller than Princess that she could just arch her back and throw her attacker off with ease.

"What are you doing?" gasped Princess. "And why?"

"Avenging my sister!"

"What?"

"You know what I mean, Princess!" Melissa was weeping.

"No. I don't. Care to explain?" shouted Princess.

"You killed my older sister in a blood sport challenge when were adolescents. You defeated her and then executed her by tearing out her out. You had the choice of sparing her, you monster! You killed her on the day she was born, just a year earlier!"

"I did not know better then!" said Princess. "I was young and ignorant for buying into such beliefs. You didn't know any better! But if it means anything now, Melissa, I am sorry for what I did to your sister."

"I will never forgive you now. It was almost four years ago when you killed her! It is too late for apologies!" Melissa lunged at Princess, who knocked the female, who was half Princess's size, to the ground with a heavy blow, from her paw, across the head.

Princess came up behind an incapacitated Melissa; that blow to her head knocked her senseless long enough for Princess to hold her down. When Melissa came to, she realized that she was pinned to the ground by the much larger wolf.

"I told you once, Melissa: I did not know any better then. If I could change what I did to your sister, then damn it, I would! Now, if I let you up, you will not attack me or I will end your life so swiftly you will not see it coming. Have I made myself clear? Do not forgot that you are half my size."

Melissa closed her amber eyes for an entire minute. She made her decision before reopening them. "I forgive you, Princess, only because you spared my life in the vent you executed my sister. I should never hold grudges−my parents taught me better than that. I am sorry for trying to kill you..."

Princess nodded her head and got up. "Let me tend to the cut on your head before we go the Northern Territory."

Princess licked the cut, as tiny as it was, until no more blood came out, before the two females found the border of the Western and Northern Territories.

"You will stay far away from me, Nars, if you know what is good for you," Princess threatened the father of Fleet and Magril when he approached them. "I do not tolerate abusive fathers. Fleet and Magril have told me how you struck them when they were puppies." When she showed him her large teeth, Nars ran off with his tail tucked between his legs.

The widowed Alpha female of the Northern Territory approached Princess and Melissa.

"How can I help you two?" the Alpha female asked kindly.

Princess and her traveling partner had already agreed that Princess could do all the speaking unless she needed support. "we are from the united Eastern and Western Packs. You are aware of the conflict they had with the rogues from Banff? They tortured me for two years."

"Yes, but who are you?"

"I am Princess, _formerly_ of the Banff pack, who saved the life of Runt, the youngest pup of the wolves Kate and Humphrey."

"What brings you two here?"

"Kate, the Alpha female of the Central Pack, requested that we recruit reinforcements from the Northern and Southern Packs for the war with Banff that we all know will inevitably take place soon. I have been there, obviously, as has Melissa, and we know that the rogues outnumber the Eastern and Western Packs combined. Kate and Humphrey fear that their packs will lose that war without reinforcements."

"This is disturbing news, yes," the Alpha female gasped, "but will it affect us?"

"It will, ma'am," said Princess. "King, the Alpha male of Banff who I refuse to address as 'father' will conquer any pack he feels is weaker than his own, or any pack he feels is a threat to his own pack. He will not stop until all four of the Jasper packs are under his control. And what is there to stop him from moving beyond Jasper, to Red Deer Park? Or beyond that?"

The Northern Alpha female blinked. How could see not ally her pack with Kate's? Princess's reasoning was reason enough for her to. "Tell Kate and Humphrey that I will meet with them before midday. Thank you for coming here with this warning. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No, ma'am," said Princess.

"Then you should get home immediately. I have heard rumors of strange, unknown wolves in Jasper. Be careful out there. Both of you."

* * *

Princess and Melissa found themselves greeted by Runt when they returned to the border of the Central and Northern territories. Princess told him what they were supposed to do.

"Princess, I want to speak with you," said Runt. "Alone. Do you think Melissa could g back to my parents alone and tell them what you have learned?"

"Of course I can," said Melissa. "Be careful, you two. Remember, Princess, how the Northern Alpha female said her wolves saw strange wolves, possibly the rogues."

"We'll be fine," said Princess. "Just let Kate know what we learned. Hopefully Claws and Scar were as lucky with the Southern wolves as we were in the North."

When Melissa was gone, Princess asked Runt about what he wanted to tell her.

"Princess," said Runt, "this may seem rushed or sudden, but would you want to be my mate?" he asked. "I love you," he added. Runt snatched a pink flower like the ones Kate wore in her mane during special events. He offered it to Princess with a grin.

"Oh, my...Runt," gasped Princess, as Runt placed the flower in her mane, just behind her left ear.

She was sitting down and Runt standing up, so Princess had to look up at him. Princess was too happy by his proposal to react. Calmly, she laid her ears back, and tears leaked from her eyes. "Of course I'll be your mate..."

Princess and Runt took in each other's scents and then gently bite each other on the necks. That was the end of their courting ceremony. Princess still had the same stunned expression on her face as Runt, smiling, placed his head on top of his now mate's head. Runt closed his eyes when Princess made eye contact with his chin.

All hell broke loose when Princess closed her eyes. Princess and Runt found themselves separated from each other suddenly. They were pinned to the ground by a small team of rouges. Runt was snarling defensively while Princess was panicking and gasping for breaths.

"No point in fighting!" said the rogue holding at her back. "And no point in screaming! No one will hear you! We made sure no one is here!"

"Next stop for you two: Banff!" another rogue said.


	11. Meeting in the North

**Chapter Ten**

**Searching**

"Where are Princess and Runt?" asked Claws.

"When did you last see them, Melissa?" asked Kate.

"Near the border of the North and Central Territories," the brown rogue said. "Runt met us there, wanting to speak in privacy about something with Princess. He seemed nervous and was shaking."

"Can I suggest a possibly explanation?" Claudette interrupted.

"What?" asked Kate.

"Do you call how Princess and Runt seem to be in love with each other? Well, what if Runt wanted to be alone with Princess so he could propose to her?"

"Are you saying that we shouldn't go check on them because you think your brother is mating with Princess?" gasped Humphrey. "Well, Runt's growing up fast!"

"Well, sir," said Melissa. "It does not take an entire hour for two wolves to marry and them mate. They should have been back a while ago. I suggest we go check on them. Do not forget that the Northern Alpha female warned us about the possibility of rogues in Jasper. They would not stay out there even to marry or mate. It wouldn't be safe to."

"If Princess and Runt do not return by noon, in an hour-and-a-half, then I will send out a search-and-rescue team," said Kate, the only wolf who could make such decisions, being the daughter of the former dominant wolf, Winston. Now, she was the dominant wolf of her pack because of her heritage. Stinky was next in line to the dominant wolf, being the oldest brother.

"An hour-and-a-half?!" cried Claudette. "I don't want to sound like I am insulting you, mother, but what good will waiting do if Princess and Runt have already been captured by the rogues?"

"Do not argue with your mother," barked Humphrey. His daughter tucked her tail between her legs, laid her ears back and threw herself on the ground.

"Humphrey, stand down!" barked Kate. "She is right. We must start searching for them immediately. Do not forget, as Melissa already pointed out, that we have good reason to suspect that Banff rogues have invaded Jasper again. Considering what the Northern Alpha female was informed of by witnessed. We are lucky to have gained the support of the Northern and Southern Packs for any conflict with the rogues, but no army, large or small, will do any good if we do not act and find Princess and my son. You can all join on the search except for Humphrey. We need someone to watch over Magril."

Saying that someone needed to watch over Magril was just an excuse to keep Humphrey away. The truth would upset her mate beyond imagining. Kate did not appreciate how Humphrey spoke to Claudette, their oldest pup and only daughter, and she felt it was for the best that Humphrey stayed away from her the duration of the search.

* * *

"Where did you say Runt greeted you and Princess?" asked Hutch, looking at Melissa.

"They stayed behind at the border of the Northern and Central Territories," the brown rogue said. "I truly cannot imagine why when they knew about the potential danger."

"I don't know about Banff, but this time of year in mating season in Jasper," said Scar, an Easter Beta wolf, and the mate of Claws. "That is more than enough to give us possibilities about where they are and what they are doing. If they have not been captured, that is."

"What are you saying?" gasped Claudette, who was in tears with concern. "That Princess and Runt were captured by the rogues because they weren't smart?"

Scar was submissive to Claudette. "No, not at all," he whimpered. "I was just saying that they were captured..."

"Claudette, none of this is helping Princess and Runt," Kate interrupted, "if they have been captured by the rogues. Melissa-" she turned to the former rogue. "-can you lead us to where you last saw them?"

"Of course, ma'am," said Melissa, bowing her head.

* * *

"No!" cried Claudette when the five wolves−herself, Kate, Fleet, Scar and Melissa−reached the border of their territory. Claudette could not bear to look at the scene before her. She buried her muzzle in the fur of Fleet's chest. Her mate wrapped his front legs around Claudette, hoping to comfort her.

Kate and Melissa went toward the scene while Scar stayed behind with Claudette and Fleet.

There was several Northern wolves, including their widowed Alpha female, investigating the area; there were streaking trails of blood heading East, in addition a few blood pools.

"What happened here?" Kate asked the Alpha female.

"Two wolves seem to have been attacked and taken away from here," she said. "The Alphas you see sniffing around say they've picked up the scents of Princess and Runt and rogue wolves...from Banff. None of this blood appears to belong to the rogues."

"No...no..." cried Kate. "...not Princess...not my son..." She buried her face in the soil as she cried.

"When did this happen?" asked Melissa, the only wolf besides Scar from the Central Territory who had the composure to speak.

The Northern Alpha female sighed. "It happened shortly after you left them. One of my Betas saw everything that happened up to when you left them. He didn't see what happened to Princess and Runt, though."

Kate, being comforted by Claudette, Fleet and Magril, wailed, "My son and his savior have been taken to Banff! Why? WHY?!" As she blinked away the largest tears she ever cried, the five other wolves saw a gray wolf who resembled Humphrey approaching the scent.

It was Stinky. He had been sensing something was horribly wrong before he arrived. The blood confirmed his fears. "What happened here?" Stinky's voice was shaking.

"Princess and your brother, Runt, were captured by the rogues," the Northern Alpha female said. "This is their blood, I fear."

Stinky gasped. He had no words for this news. The Alpha's ears fell back and his mouth dropped open in horror. There was a look in his eyes that could be best described as a mixture of a sad and terrified look. Tears were flowing from his eyes and his chin was quivering.

Stinky was not sure how to react. How could he be, after learning, so suddenly, what he did. And to think that Stinky had just been given the great news of his mate, Mica, being pregnant just before coming here. This day went from great to terrible it a period of ten minutes, and it was not even midday yet.

"I'm sorry about your brother and, I'm assuming, your sister-in-law," the Northern Alpha female said. "I truly am Stinky, all of you. If there is anything, anything at all that my pack can do for you and your family, let us know at any time."

Kate recovered her composure enough to speak. She was still on the ground by Scar, Fleet and Magril. Her jaw was shaking worse than Stinky's, and she had a look of only sadness−no anger−in her eyes. Kate's normally strong voice was now weak as she spoke.


	12. Enslaved in Banff

**Chapter Eleven**

**Enslaved in Banff**

"Keep yer muzzle shut or I'll break it!" a rogue wolf barked at Princess as she snarled at them.

The team of ten rogues who captured Princess and Runt had their prisoners' ankles tied up with strong and heavy vines. The vines were like shackles, they were so strong.

"Keep moving!" another barked. "You worthless Omegas. Damn you both, keep moving!" He cuffed Princess across the head. Princess threatened to mutilate them all, but the ten wolves simply laughed at her threat.

"You won't do nothing to the ten of us," a white female wolf laughed. She was one of the wolves who abandoned the Eastern Pack with King. She lost her temper when Princess snapped her teeth at her. "Arrogant Omega bitch!" she growled and then left deep scars, from her claws, across Princess's breast. The ten wolves laughed at her pain.

"Now get moving and we may go easy on you!" a female wolf with a black fur coat said. "King and his mate won't, that is for sure!"

A third female rogue, a brown one, who was leading the group, suddenly called out: "Banff, just ahead!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, still in their shackle-like vines, Princess and Runt were in Banff. They were being presented to King and Queen by the team of rogues that captured them.

"We caught them," the female with a white coat of fur said, "when they were courting each other at the border of Kate's territory and the Northern Territory in Jasper."

King's and Queen's eyes grew large with surprise. "My daughter is married to a Jasper Omega?!" gasped King. "Well, not much I can do to change that now! We need them alive if hope to accomplish are goal of finally conquering Jasper."

"Is there anything else you know?" asked Queen, a young cousin of Tony's, the former Alpha male of the Eastern Pack.

"Yes." The white rogue nodded. "Princess found out your spies−Melissa and Geoff. Kate killed Geoff−we found his body, with his throat slashed−and I have good reason to suspect that Melissa is not loyal to the Jasper Wolves. Our spying has told us that Melissa is not spying and faking loyalty to Kate."

"How so?" asked Queen.

"Melissa has told Kate everything about our plans to take conquer Jasper."

"WHAT?!" roared King. "It took us years to devise that plan. It was flawless!" King noticed the shock on his mate's face. Queen's eyes were large, her ears sticking straight up, and her muzzle straight down, hiding the frown on her face.

"What can we do now?" asked the black female rogue. "The Jasper wolves know everything now. We are more vulnerable to attack than they are, and they have good reason to attack us." Then she added: "We have Runt, one of their own, and his mate, Princess."

"We can't afford to spend another two years planning," a gray male said. "We can't keep these two as prisoners for that long!"

"They're right," snarled Princess. "Runt and I will kill you all first!"

"SHUT YER MUZZLE!" the white female roared. "If you speak again, I will shove a rock down your throat!"

Princess reluctantly complied. When this wolf threatened to shove a rock down someone's throat, she meant it.

_Not if I shove rocks down your throat first,_ thought Princess, _and then tear your damn windpipe out._

Runt, normally, not an aggressive wolf, who did not even look aggressive−he looked like Kate, only with a shorter mane and smaller ears like Humphrey−but now he was having violent thoughts equivalent of thoughts his grandmother, Eve, would have. Maybe that was what Runt inherited from Eve.

_If they threaten or hurt Princess again_, thought Runt, _I will tear their eyeballs out and shove them done their throats so they can see tear their carcasses open!_ In fact, this was actually how his grandmother had threatened the Eastern wolves three-and-a-half years ago when Eve was blaming them for Kate's disappearance when they weren't responsible. _They do NOT treat my mate like this!_

"Where do you want this Omega scum?" the white female rogue asked.

"Take them to the cave where we kept Princess before she was drove away. All then of you can guard the exit until Queen and I come to give you further instructions as to what to do with them."

* * *

It took the ten rogues longer to reach the cave, because of their two prisoners' vine shackles, than it took King and Queen to reach the cave. The Alpha male and his mate weren't all that surprised, really.

"Get these Omegas in the cave," ordered King.

"You will have six hour shifts in which five of you will watch the cave," said Queen, "and the other five of you will take over." She split the ten wolves into two groups: a group made up of the five females and a group make up of the five males.

King gave the five females orders to take the first and third shifts and for the five males to take the second and fourth shifts.

They had good reason for splitting them into groups based on gender. King and Queen did not want any mating going on between the guards when they were supposed to be making sure prisoners would NOT escape. He knew they weren't happy, but King did not really care. There were more important things, in King's and Queen's minds, to worry about than wolves who ranked below them being happy or not.

"You males can go do something else for six hours," said Queen. "I don't care as long as I _don't_ hear about or catch you with the females or there will be ten females instead of just five." Obviously, it was much different for what Queen had down there versus the male rogues, but she mimed slicing using the claws on her right paw between her legs.

The male rogues darted away from the cave, yelping, with their tails tucked between their legs before the two dominant wolves had a chance to leave the cliffside cave. They left before the females started their sexually violent conversation which, unlike in Jasper, was commonplace and acceptable even around the youngest wolf pups. There was not much order except in war in Banff.

The white she-rogue giggled wickedly. "I would love to watch them get sterilized," she said, "so long as I get to put one of them in my mouth before it is severed."

"I'd want it in my mouth whether it is severed or not," a tan she-rouge laughed. "You know I bad−or good, depending on your viewpoint−my cannibalistic tendencies are."

"We all have cannibalistic tendencies," the black she-rogue said. "I'm the kind of wolf that would bite a male's neck open when I'm riding him."

Clearly Princess and Runt were disgusted by everything these five females were discussing.

_How could they even think like that?_ wondered Runt. It seemed that, when they had their heads between males' legs, they _bit_! Runt shuddered at the thought of receiving that from these females. He knew it was good from experience to get one from Princess...but it was like a nightmare to even think about any other Banff female doing it to him.

Runt put his paws between his legs, not to be crude, but out of fear of getting bitten down low by the crude females preventing them from leaving this cave.

Princess was laying on her belly a short distance from Runt. The only good thing that happened to them since their arrival in Banff was having those damn vines removed from their ankles.

"What do we do now?" sighed Runt.

"I have no idea, dear," said Princess. "I do know that we won't be going anywhere soon, unless your parents have found out and already have a good plan for getting us out of here."

"His parents won't be getting anyone out of here if you don't shut up!" one of the female guards shouted. "I'll make that a promise, not a threat!"

"Let's keep our voices at a whisper," cautioned Runt. "We'd better not anger them. King won't care what they do to us as long as we aren't killed."

"Of course, Runt," whispered Princess. It was difficult for this female, who considered herself to be a loud-mouth, to keep her voice at a whisper.

Princess rolled over on her back when she found the mosses she hid in here when she was an Alpha.

"How did you know that was there?" whispered Runt.

"This is the cave I lived in before you were taken from your parents," explained Princess, still whispering, albeit difficultly. "This is where I went when I moved out of King's and Queen's cave. I collected moss to make a blanket. I realize, now, how smart I was to not tell anyone about it. We must keep this blanket back here. Now, come Runt. Rest with me. If _I_ am tired, then I am sure that you are."

Runt quickly went behind this boulder and laid down on his belly. Princess was right. He was so tired that he did not mind that Princess was laying on her back, with her legs stretched out in front of her, and spread, to relax her aching body.

There were more important things to worry about than having a good view. Like not losing their lives. Plus, Runt was aware of why of the only reason she rested like this. Princess had already explained to him once that this was how she relaxed her nerves. It was also how she felt most comfortable when she laid down. She was not secretly flirting with Runt or trying to turn him on. Why would she be worried about that now, when they were now no more than slaves of, arguably, the most brutal pack of wolves in all of Canada, maybe even on the entire planet?

Princess laid down like a normal wolf once she had calmed her nerves. She laid over Runt, her belly against his back, and then closed her eyes. Princess and Runt were still both awake, even with their eyes closed.

"Runt," she whispered. "I have never said this to anyone else before. I love you. I wish I told you this before we were married. It would have meant more to you then."

"It still means a lot to mean, Princess," said Runt. "Now, get some sleep. It is getting dark out, and you're tired."

Princess quickly drifted into sleep, but Runt did not immediately. He watched the moon for almost an hour before joining his mate in her sleep.


	13. You are NOT my father!

**Chapter Twelve**

**"You are NOT my father!"**

Princess woke up early the next morning. Runt was still sleeping. Looking out of the cave, not only did Princess see the same five female rogues guarding the entrance, but the moon was still in the sky, and not the sun. She as p much earlier than she expected.

It was a full moon, oddly, since there had been one just days before she was taken from Jasper. Still, Princess knew the guards wouldn't care because they were doing the same thing.

Princess stared howling at the moon. It was not the cheerful howls she'd howled at The Howling Rock but mournful howls over being in Hell...er Banff...again. They were so mournful that Runt was woke up by them to see what was bothering his mate.

Runt was stunned. Never in his life had he ever heard such mournful howling. It was heart wrenching, yet it struck him as the most beautiful howls he'd ever heard in his life. This mournful howl was so beautiful that Runt was in a stupor over it, even though he felt bad for his mate. Princess was right at the exit of the cave, tipping her head straight up at the full moon.

Princess's howls of mourning went on for two more minutes before she suddenly stopped, only because she sensed Runt was awake. Otherwise, she would have kept on howling. When she turned around to face him, Runt saw the tears in Princess's eyes. Runt licked them away.

Princess let out a whimper as she buried he muzzle in the fur of Runt's neck. Runt put his front legs around her in a hugging fashion, and he licked the top of Princess's head, carefully pushing her large ears back with his tongue.

When Runt stopped licking her across the top of the head−an act that had a calming effect on her−Princess looked up at Runt with a longing look in her eyes. Princess longed for him to lick her across the top of her head again. She was relaxed when Runt licked her across the head, so she did not want him to ever stop. At least not until she had regained all of her composure. But what happened next made up for him stopping.

Runt lifted up Princess's left ear and whispered five words into it that brought a smile to her face: "I love you, too, Princess."

These words gave Princess pleasure and hope. Her tongue slipped out of her muzzle, and she drooled. Princess repeated the words, only using his name rather than her own.

"Well, this makes me sick!" the voice of a male gagged. Looking toward the opening of the cave, Princess and Runt saw not only the five female guards, but King and Queen as well.

"Aye," the white she-wolf agreed. "I feel like I'm about to puke my guts out!"

"Get out from behind that rock. _Now_," said Queen, with a harsh inflection to her normally calm voice. "I did not want to resort to this but if you, Runt, ever mate with my daughter, I do things to you so you _can't_ get another female pregnant."

Princess seemed to grow large with her unreleased fury. She was about to release it all on her parents whom she did not address as such. "If _you_ ever lay one claw on him, you will die a slow, painful death!" Protectively, she stepped between Runt and Queen. "Back away, now..." She was showing her teeth.

"Is that any way to talk to your mother?" gasped Queen. She began acting in fear of Princess, mocking her daughter. "Oooh...King! She threatened me! Save me! Save me from the big, bad Omega. Oooh...I'm so scared!"

"I don't not appreciate your immature sarcasm," Princess remarked rudely.

Immediately, Queen got more serious and cuffed her daughter across the side of her head. Queen had her claws extended when she did so. The attack left three gashes in Princess's cheek.

"You can lick that, Runt!" Queen smiled wickedly in response to her daughter's pain. Runt was the only thing preventing Princess was tearing her mother's entrails out. It was not an easy task, holding Princess back, but Runt did it somehow.

King was furious. "Do not talk to your mother like that, traitor!" Princess cried, in pain, into Runt's chest. King lost it and pulled them apart. "Damn it, listen to when I talk to you! I am still your father and you will listen to me when I am talking to you!"

Princess's eyes grew large. That statement angered her so much that her eyes would have glowed red if it was possible.

"YOU ARE_ NOT_ MY FATHER!" she roared. "You can burn in Hell for still considering me your daughter! You can burn in Hell for bring us here again! You too, Queen! Your whole pack can just BURN!"

Now it was King's turn to strike his daughter. He drew blood too, digging into her breast with his claws. Princess screamed as Runt snarled protectively. Princess darted behind Runt and started licking her wounds.

Runt was angered so much by this that his fur was puffing up and his hackles rising. The shocked expression on his face was gone, replaced with one of anger. This was a rare side of Runt he was showing.

Runt's ears were sticking straight up and his mane was quivering. With a death glare in his eyes, Runt's gums were showing as he snarled at King and Queen. The next actions of her mate shocked Princess more than anything he had done yet. Runt laid his ears back and opened his mouth wide.

"How dare you?!" Runt screamed at the top of his lungs. "You do _not _lay a paw on MY MATE!" he roared. "I will kill you both!" Runt was about ready to give a new definition to the word "murder."

"How dare you marry my daughter?" asked King, calmly. "She has the blood of Alphas in her. You are an Omega! Alphas ONLY marry Alphas! Omegas are the scum of wolf packs!"

"If Omegas are the scum of wolf packs, then what does that make you, King?" retorted Runt.

King was stunned briefly. But he knew what to do soon. "That makes me the one who does this!" And then he dug out one of Runt's eyeballs. "Good luck surviving with just one eye!"

With agony in his voice, Runt continued spitting insults. "That is less of you I am forced to see, so thank you!"

Princess was larger than ever now, her fur was so puffed out. "Bastard!" she screamed.

Queen was hardly succeeding in holding her mate back now. "Come dear, these fools aren't worth wasting any more of your energy. Leave them to drink each other's blood."

Queen ate the dugout eyeball of Runt and then left with the cave with King.

Princess, cursing and condemning her parents, took up some of the moss from behind the rock and the vines that were used to shackle them once, crafted them together into something that resembled an eye patch.

She started licking the empty socket where Runt's eyeball had been until the bleeding stopped. It was remarkable that she could stop the bleeding of such a grievous injury with her rough tongue, but she did it. Princess was a determined wolf, clearly.

Princess was gentle when she put the organic eye patch over his eye. This made her glad that she had listened to Reba and Janice a little; the vegetarians knowledge of all things organic was proving more than useful now. She would let them know it if they were ever able to return to Jasper. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about the agonizing pain Runt was feeling. The pain would go away in about a day, but that would be a day of suffering. Runt did not deserve to suffer. He was a good wolf.

"Oh, Runt!" cried Princess. "Th-they shouldn't have done that...will you be alright?"

"I-I'll live," he groaned. "It just hurts," he added. "I cannot describe to you accurately what it feels like to get your eyeball clawed on. And then your sadistic mother ate it!" he screamed, losing his composure.

"She has never done that before..." Princess stuttered. Never had Princess seen such an act of sadism carried out by any wolf before. "...she is just pure evil and even that is not a good term for it!" She changed the subject to something that mattered more. "Rest, Runt," she said a soothing voice. "You will get weak very easily if you don't."

Princess led Runt to the mosses behind the boulder, where he laid down first. She laid down, on her belly this time, next to Runt, after throwing some of the extra moss over Runt to keep him warm. An injury as serious as having an eyeball clawed out could cause him to go into shock, and he could freeze when night came along. Well, Runt could freeze any time if he went into shock. It was Autumn, and nearing Winter. Princess was surprised it had yet to snow any.

Princess allowed her mate to rest his head on top of her's, knowing that if she rested her head above his like they normally did, it could lead to his eye socket bleeding again. It was not an easy task to accomplish, getting an eye socket to stop bleeding. There were so many places it could bleed from. The organic eye patch she made would not do much to help with bleeding, but it would keep debris out of the socket, therefore prevent any risk of infection.

The auburn-colored female wolf started weeping as her seriously injured mate licked the top of her head, telling Princess not to blame herself, that it was his fault he lost his eye.

Princess didn't listen to Runt's comforting words. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Runt..."


	14. A Family Worries

**Chapter Thirteen**

**A Family Worries**

The large family of the two missing wolves−Princess and Runt−was gathering into the cave of Kate and Humphrey, to make a rescue plan for their wolfnapped relatives. Rogue wolves from Banff invading Jasper was one thing, but when they took _family_, things were more personal than ever. If Kate was willing to tell the others how she felt about the rogues tanking her youngest pup, Runt, and her potential daughter-in-law, Princess, she would tell them that she was pissed off. Kate did not care if she cursed, but no smart wolf did so around their parents. Winston, Even and Tony were all here.

Just with how Kate and Humphrey, alone, were feeling about Runt and Princess being taken away from their pack, their family, the tension was high in this cave. But there were was ten other wolves−Claudette, Stinky, Fleet, Magril, Lilly, Garth, Winston, Eve, Tony and Mica−in this cave. They were all just as angry as their Alpha female and Alpha male. Even was surely the most angry wolf, next to her pups and grandpups, considering her violent personality.

Kate barked, silencing her family members who had been talking amongst each other about the situation involving Princess and Runt, which those who had not known of just learned about.

"If you did not know it already," Kate began differently than she intended when Nars, the father of Fleet and Magril, entered the cave, with the Northern Alpha female. They both had worried looks on their faces. Magril, of course, was not going to speak since Nars was here, maybe, but there could be things that everyone needed to talk about, so...

Although she was still in her cast, Magril was about to get around Jasper, despite her broken leg.

She decided to make an exception to speaking when Nars was around this one time. Nars wouldn't do anything to her now, when family was in danger. "What are we going to do to rescue Princess and Runt?" asked Magril. Nars was shocked more than anyone here to hear his daughter speak when he was around.

"If it comes to it, and believe me, it will," continued Kate, "we will invade Banff to rescue my son and Princess, and I'll kill King _myself _ for taking them from us!"

"What about his mate, Queen?" asked Lilly.

"She'll die, too," Kate said sourly.

"I know that this may seem unlikely now, but what if Princess and Runt somehow escape from Banff and get back here alive?" asked Mica, mate of Stinky and daughter of the Omegas Janice and Shakey. Only Mica was deemed an Alpha by Kate for her actions during her training that Janice and Shakey had not shown. "What will we do then?"

"Then," said Humphrey, "we will still invade Banff with the same intentions for what they did to my son and his possible mate."

"What can I do to help you?" asked Magril, much to the surprise of her family members. Fleet, Liam, her mate, and Nars were most worried about her, and surrounded her unexpectedly.

"I appreciate your willingness to help," said Kate, "and I do not want to offend you, my dear, but will your leg be healed by the time anything goes down? Will it be healthy enough for you to help? I'm worried about your safety. You could hurt your leg again if you take part in any conflicts before it is healed perfectly. This is not The Great Wolf Games, Magril. If your leg sprains in a battle, the enemy will not spare you."

Magril knew that Kate was right but this was a scary truth, and a scary thought. She could die if that happened again during a battle with the Banff rogues. Magril did not want any good wolves to lose their lives, herself included. Her ears dropped.

"You're right, Kate," she said. "What do you want me to do that does not involve fighting, if I am healed by then?"

"If the rogues come to Jasper, they will come from the East, from the direction of The Howling Rock," explained Kate. "if you can run, I want you and Mica to take all the females−excluding Princess, if she makes it back and Claws−and the puppies to the Northern territory. Princess, Lilly, Claws, mother and myself will be the only females to stay and fight. Also, take the more elderly wolves with you. Only the strongest and healthiest of wolves will fight−anyone else _must be evacuated_."

"I'll help with the evacuation," Lilly volunteered unexpectedly. "I am not the best fighter or a strong wolf. Magril can't evacuate the young, the females and the elderly with just Mica helping her. What if Mica is far ahead of when something goes wrong because of Magril's leg without Mica knowing it? Magril would be trampled."

"She's right, Kate," interrupted Winston, their elderly father.

"Yes," said Kate. "I wish I could have considered all that sooner, Lilly. Keep with Magril as long as you are evacuating wolves to the North. Keep at the back of the crowd, so if Magril's leg gives out, she will not be ran over by the others..."

"...and I will carry her the rest of the way," the Omega female said. "Magril is a light-weight wolf."

Candy and Sweets, the two female Omegas who, with Eve, saved Princess's life twice, unexpectedly came into the cave now.

"What can we do to help? asked Candy, a wolf whose fur was so light of a yellow that it looked almost white.

"We know a great deal about healing thanks to Eve," said Sweets, a brown wolf. "So do Reba and Janice−we've been training them secretly ever since Princess almost lost her life in the first battle with the rogues. You know that we are too useful to just evacuate with all the other females."

"Yes, we were eavesdropping on you, the four of us-" Reba and Janice came into the cave, behind them, now. "-but does that really matter right now, when lives are at stake?"

"You four are right," sighed Kate. She turned to address the group as a whole. "Candy and Sweets and Reba and Janice will join us in any battles that will take place in the future to provide medical support. No questions asked, wolves will be injured. These four will be useful."

Suddenly, Claudette said, "I...I want to be left alone for a awhile..." Claudette left the cave with no one other than Fleet, weeping. It killed her on the inside to know that Runt had been captured by the rogues.


	15. Love Under the Moon

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Love Under the Moon**

"OUT!" screamed Princess. "Out of our cave, damn you!"

Princess drove a male wolf out of her's and Runt's cave, knowing why he had come right on in without even asking. Well, she wasn't going to let some fool she didn't even like mate with her!

"And stay out!" she shouted as the male ran way, yelping, because Princess bit his tail off. "Do not forget that I am married to Runt now!"

Princess ignored the remarks made by one of the female guards. She claimed that their marriage would not be respected her, except by them. She went back into their cave and got behind the rock with Runt again.

It was the night after Runt's eye was clawed out by King and eaten by his sadistic mate, Queen. Runt's condition was much better than that morning when it took place. Runt was already sound asleep as Princess stared, a mournful look in her eyes, at her mate.

The sight of Runt sleeping brought back her memories of when he was enslaved in Banff not as an adolescent but as an adult, when she was having to protect him from her own pack. Now, she was having to protect him again. Except that they were both two years older now.

* * *

_She remembered it all clearly. It was only Runt's second day in Banff as a puppy, when he learned something that was very shocking about Princess. It was when Runt was laying up against her belly, when she was laying on her side. Princess was doing this so the pup could find warmth from the heat her belly gave off. He was still awake, and would so long as his protector was. Runt had just told her that she reminded him of his own mother before she went on about her past._

_ "Runt," said Princess. "I'm going to tell you this because you are still a nursing pup. I can tell you are."_

_ "But my mother has no milk left! She has told me that I don't need to nurse anymore," whined Runt._

_ "Trust me, dear, I know. I would be a mother if it wasn't for the wolf who forced me to marry him. When he found out that I was pregnant, he was worried about how my father would react to the news. For that reason, he beat me for being a 'fool' when he was the one who forced me to mate with him. I didn't want to marry him or to get pregnant with his pups to begin with._

_ "He beat me, and then he left me. When they were born, I only had stillborn pups−pups that were born dead−I had milk left in me, and I was not allowed to nurse orphaned pups, being the pup of the Alpha male and Alpha female. My parents think that I'm 'too good' for nursing pups that aren't mine. King killed my former mate for mating with me without his permission._

_ "The point is, Runt, that I have a great amount of fresh milk in me. This all took place a month before you were captured."_

_ Runt blinked with shock. "Tha-that's awful," he gasped. "But why are you telling me this?"_

_ "Like I said, you are still a nursing pup who didn't get enough milk because your siblings considered you the Runt of the litter, so they took most of the milk for themselves. That is common when older siblings feel their youngest sibling isn't worth nursing, not that any of you would really know better when you start nursing._

_ "I am suffering with all this milk inside me−it makes me lopsided when I walk, and it could cause infection if I don't get rid of it soon. You won't want me to suffer and I don't want you to die. Runt, we will both benefit if you nurse from me, so start nursing. I'm sure you know how. I am showing you my underside for a reason, dear, besides for the body warmth that it gives you."_

_ Finally convinced, the pup started nursing. The more of her milk Runt, whom she loved like a son, drank, the better Princess felt. If milk was left in a female wolf's breasts for too long, it could lead to serious, possibly fatal, infection of her breasts. In addition that more serious effect, as she had already told Runt, she was so heavy that it was difficult for her to balance herself when she walked. Worst of all, her brutal father and sadistic mother seemed to find pleasure in their daughter's suffering._

_ If Runt nursed from her until all her breast milk was gone, then she would not have to worry about any risk of infection, or further taunting about her extra weight because of the milk. The males always taunted about nursing from her just to anger her or to offend her._

_ Runt drank his fill of Princess's milk, which was warm, but still tasted as good to Runt, within half an hour. It was a good amount of time since Runt last nursed from the female who was acting like his mother, who reminded him so much of Kate. Although Princess's milk tasted great to him, it did not taste as great at his real mother's for some odd reason._

_ Princess was feeling so much better after all that milk Runt drank out of her system._

_ Runt, still awake yet so sleepy, being full of the warm milk from Princess's breasts, was looking at with sleep eyes at Princess. "Thank you, Runt," she said to the pup. "Now get some sleep, dear."_

_ The pup smiled up at Princess and then fell asleep. Princess joined him a few minutes later._

* * *

Princess snapped out of her flashback, and looked down at Runt, almost expecting him to be a pup. She couldn't believe he was all grown up now, after not seeing him since his puppy days. Who could have predicted that she would be married to the pup whose life she saved two years after doing so?

In her mind, Runt was the most beautiful wolf in the whole world. This park, Banff, was an evil place because of the wolves who called it home. It made her mate seem so much more beautiful than he really was in a place that was so ugly.

There was one thing about her that was different than when they were brought back here: Princess's feelings of being in heat, caused by living in Jasper Park, around so many kind males, rather than Banff around the scum of the Earth, was back. She cast a sly grin at Runt as she eyed a certain place on his body that was on her mind because of her heat. Princess was now dying to have Runt inside her; she was dying to have Runt get her pregnant! It brought her back to those days when she had wet dreams about him the last time she was forced to sleep in this game.

Princess bent her head down toward Runt's head, and licked him on the cheek gently. Her lick woke him up. Runt rubbed his eye, and had to stop himself from rubbing the socket where his other eye had been before King took it from him, and Queen ate it.

"Yes, dear?" yawned Runt, as he stood up.

"The moon is out now," she said. "Do you want to howl with me?"

"Of course I would!" said Runt, in a happy tone. It was the first time either of them had spoke in happy tones since before they were taken from Jasper. "There is nothing I would rather do more than howl with you, other than mate with you," he added, smelling Princess's heat. "You start, and I'll follow..."

Princess started howling. It was not a sad howl now, but a happy howl, partially because of her heat. Either way, sad or happy, it was so beautiful that it made Runt happy. It even turned him on even more. His brain was filled with ways he could tell Princess that he wanted to mate with her, and how they would do it. Princess's howling melted his heart.

Princess's howls made Runt just want to grab her by the butt and mate with her on the spot, before she would expect it. Runt wanted to fill Princess to the brim with his fluids and get her pregnant with his pups! Runt's brain was going crazy with all his thoughts about mating with Princess, as they howled together with each other, happily.

Of course, Runt knew that he would be risking his life and Princess's life if he mated with Princess. He knew that King did not want _anyone_ mating with his daughter even since she gave birth to stillborn pups, and because she was a slave. (King was not aware of the real reason she gave birth to stillborn pups, that her old mate had beat her. Therefore, King assumed that Princess was "not good enough to have puppies".)

Princess and Runt stopped howling at the same time. The mates knew what was on each other's minds. Princess could smell Runt's heat and Runt could smell her heat, and it made both of their heats stronger, the more they smelled it on each other.

Runt was now behind Princess, but that was not how she wanted things to go down. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Princess flipped her smaller mate around so she was in front of him. It gave her a chance to get on top of him, maybe only just to tease him, since males always mated from behind their mates, as look smirked down at him.

"Are you ready, dear?" asked Princess, tauntingly.

"Wh...what are you doing?" he gasped, caught off guard by Princess flipping him around.

"What?" she laughed as she got off him. "You don't want to have me be in charge?"

Runt was embarrassed, even though she was just joking with him, and not being serious at all. Princess giggled when he blushed; giggling was a rare act for Princess. She was a strong, cold wolf. Laughing would have been what Runt expected as a response, not a giggle. A giggle would have implied Princess was a soft wolf.

"Are you ready, Runt?" asked Princess, as she turned her butt toward Runt, and raised her bushy tail.

"Yes, ready!" said Runt.

Princess blacked out when she saw Runt get close to her as she looked back. She did not see a thing; she only felt.

"Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh...RRRRRUUUUUNTTTTTT!" she screamed, and that was all she remembered before Runt started mating with her.


	16. The First Battle

**Chapter Fifteen**

**The First Battle**

At the very moment Princess was remembering when she had protected Runt as pup, in Banff, the wolves in Jasper were going to sleep for the night.

For their own safety, the members of Kate's family, plus Sweets were all sleep in Kate's cave, with a few wolves, who slept during the morning for this reason, guarding the entrance to the cave. In the cave, the strongest and/or healthiest wolves were closest to the entrance, while the weakest and/or sickest wolves were sleeping at the back wall of the cave. The weakest wolves were the elderly−Winston, Eve and Tony−and the females excluding Kate, Claudette and Claws.

Kate, who was closest to the entrance of her cave, and sleeping between Claudette, Humphrey and Stinky, was gently kicking as she dreamed about Princess and Runt. Her gentle kicking meant that her dream was not a nightmare yet it was not a good dream, either. Kate's kicking was so gentle that no one else was aware of it.

Specifically, Kate's dream about those was about her son and potential daughter-in-law being in Banff. Unbeknownst to her, everything that happened to them so far was reality. Kate did not know how her dream was more like a premonition than a dream or a nightmare, except about things as they were taking place, rather than about to take place. Except for the event of Runt having one of his eyeballs clawed out by King, there was nothing that frightened Kate in this dream. Still, everything she was seeing in this dream−good or bad−made Kate kick.

Claudette was kicking like her mother, not because of dreams about her little brother and Princess, but because she was worried about them ever since they were captured by the rogues. Princess wouldn't be able to deal with living in Banff again after already escaping once, and being free from the brutal regime of her father for several weeks before being recaptured. And if she−Princess−couldn't handle it, then how on Earth would Runt be able to? Unlike Princess−who had been there for two years as a slave, for lack of a better term−Runt had been free for the same amount of time. Runt, for sure, would be like lunch meant to the rogues. Not even Princess would be able to protect Runt, no matter how much effort she put into doing so.

* * *

"I have an awful feeling about things that will take place on this night," an orange Beta wolf called Claws said to her brown mate whose name was Scar.

Scar rubbed his nose through her short mane out of concern. "What do you mean?" he asked.

In addition to Claws−who was in charge of all the wolves on this overhanging rock at the border of Banff and Jasper−and her mate Scar, there was the wolves Melissa−the former Alpha rogue from Banff who renounced her allegiance to King and Queen just as Princess had−Hutch, Candu, two Northern Alphas called Nars−the father of Fleet, the mate of Kate's and Humphrey's daughter Claudette, and his little sister Fleet−and Ed, and ten other Beta wolves were here to watch the border of Jasper and Banff for rogues who could come here at any time, considering that there had already been one invasion−only two wolves, yes, but even such a small scale invasion could mean a bigger one sooner or later.

Nars and Ed were sent here by the widowed Alpha female of the Northern Wolf Pack of Jasper to replace two wolves who were unable to stand guard with the other thirteen Beta wolves. One of them was a Beta wolf, the older brother of Claws, who had fallen ill recently and was stuck living in the cave of their parents as he recovered. The other was Princess, who was considered a Beta wolf by the other Betas even though she was not yet given an official ranking by Kate, who was the only wolf who could do so, being the dominant wolf of the Eastern and Western wolf packs of Jasper, as the daughter of the former dominant wolf Winston. Princess was not here, of course, because she had been captured by the rogues, and taken back to Banff with Runt.

"I don't know for sure," sighed Claws. "I just have a feeling like something terrible is going to happen very soon...and that it will begin here at this border."

Nars looked around nervously, an action which the other fourteen wolves were aware of, but he spoke much more reassuringly than he looked.

"Look at how many of us there are here," said Nars, who was noticeably shaking because of Claws' bad feeling. "Is there really anything to worry about?"

"Rogues..." gasped Ed.

"We know, Ed," Nars acknowledged the oldest and best friend of his son Fleet and his daughter Magril, "but there are no rogues here."

Ed shot an angry look at Nars. "NO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "There _are_ rogues! Thirty of them coming from the East!"

The fourteen other wolves looked to the East, to the borders of Jasper and Banff. Sure enough, they were greeted by the sight of rogues, twice as many−thirty, just as Ed said−rogues coming toward the border of Jasper from their own pack than there were Jasper wolves guarding the border of the two packs.

Needless to say, the thirteen Betas and the two Alphas were horrified by this sight. Fifteen wolves could never be a match for thirty wolves. Not even fifteen wolves like these fifteen Kate herself, alone, chose for the task would stand a chance against thirty rogues hell-bent on vengeance.

Obviously this was not all of King's pack or there would have been at least two hundred fifty wolves, based on what they knew thanks to Princess and Melissa. That was many more wolves than when King led them away from Jasper when Alphas, Betas and Omegas could marry outside of their own rank; there had only been no more than fifty wolves then, and double that when they took Runt. There was so many more then not because the females reproduced like rabbits alone but because King and Queen and their followers recruited many other wolves and conquered other packs since the original fifty wolves left Jasper.

King and Queen weren't leading this unit of thirty rogues, but a female wolf who was once an Alpha in Tony's pack; the white female who had been guarding the cave Princess and Runt were living in.

Everyone was looking to Claws asking her what they should do, because Kate had placed her in charge of the wolves who were guarding the border of Jasper and Banff. Kate chose Claws for the leadership of this team not only because she was the oldest of them all, but also the one with the most experience. Hutch would have been the wolf Kate chose if Claws didn't want to accept the job.

One would be wise to not let beauty fool them. Claws as an extremely smart wolf who was just as deadly as she was smart and beautiful. It was her beauty and intelligence that made Claws so deadly. Her combination of beauty and intelligence made her even more deadly, and it allowed her to distract other wolves long enough to tear open their jugular vein or to even mutilate them. She hardly, and rarely, had to flirt with anyone to end their lives.

Claws was so smart that she almost always knew what to do. Now was not one of those times.

"I don't know! I don't know!" cried Claws, frantically. She looked at the two Northern Wolves, specifically the older one. "Nars! What do we do?!" Claws was panicking, screaming, as she asked him this.

There was only one thing that Nars and Ed, that any of them, could think to do. It would call for sacrifice of life.

"I want the thirteen of you to run until you get back to the rest of your pack," said Nars.

"What?" gasped Hutch.

"Don't argue! Just go," said Ed. "We'll distract them long enough for all of you to warn the others. It is better if only two wolves lose their lives than thirteen.  
"No!" cried Claws. "It is better if no wolves die! Come with us! No one has to die!"

"GO!" roared Nars. "Before they kill us all! They're coming up the hill." Nars tone became more soft, but just as serious now. "Please, if I don't make it, let my pups, Feet and Magril, know that I am sorry for any abuse that I put them through as pups, and that I wish I never abused them or their mother. Let them know that I am proud of them both even when I told them that I wasn't...I want them to know that I still care about them..."

The thirteen wolves were either stunned by Nars' last words to them or weeping that they would lose not one but two gold wolves to the rogues. They were stunned by Nars words because, never in their lives, would they have thought that Nars would have uttered such caring words, especially about the two wolves−Fleet and Magril, his own pups born by his deceased mate−whom he abused verbally and physically when they were young. It hurt them all that they were leaving these two brave wolves behind to face certain death.

Nars and Ed were scared to death, clearly, but they weren't showing any fear. They weren't showing any fear even as they were surrounded by all thirty of those rogues from Banff. That there was no chance of escape for them did not scare them a whole lot.

A white female rogue, the one leading this group, ordered her twenty-nine followers to stop so she could address these two wolves. She thought that they were wools for not leaving with their thirteen allies to live another day, but she had to admit they were brave. It was because of their bravery that she would give them one alternative to avoid being torn to shreds, to avoid losing their lives.

"Look," the white female rogue said. "I admire brave wolves like you two with a passion. You two are brave than your thirteen friends who ran away, that is for sure." Those words angered Nars and Ed; her words made them want to kill her know for insulting their friends who left not because they wanted to but because they were told to. "I hate to see brave wolves, even if they are on the side of the enemy, to lose their lives, so I will give you _one_ alternative that will give you a chance to spare you both. My alternative is if you surrender now and allow yourselves to be enslaved by us rogues when we return to Banff, then neither of you will lose your lives."

"You know what I think?" said Nars.

"What?" the female asked, expecting them to both comply, thinking that she would rather be a slave then die.

"You can take your alternatives and shove it!" spat Nars. "Slavery is a not a better option than death."

"I hate for it to have come to this, I truly do, but...get them," the female rogue ordered.

Ed looked at Nars one last time. His last words were. "It was an honor to know you, Nars." Nars would not speak again.

The white female rogue who was leading this team of rogues who had just ordered her unit to execute these two Alphas whom she considered braver than the Betas who fled, not because of their rank at all, turned her back on the scene. She didn't want to see them die. She closed her eyes even though she already had her back toward the bloody scene. She only heard their screams as Nars and Ed were reduced to a pile of blood and gore.

She felt ill when she turned around, but she did not show it, so her followers did not know that she still felt bad about their executions.

"Stay here for ten minutes," she instructed her unit. "I want yo go ahead so I can speak with the Alpha male and the Alpha female first. They'll hopefully be more willingly to listen to me if i show up again. If they see the rest of you covered in blood, things will not go well for us all. No, add an extra five minutes before you go any further," she added.

* * *

The white Alpha rogue who was once a member of Tony's pack was alone as she nervously crossed the Western Pack's Territory. It had been almost too easy to get through the Eastern Pack's Territory because not many wolves lived there due to food being scarce. The majority of the now united Eastern and Western packs lived in the Western Territory since that was where all the caribou herds lived because there was better fields of grass for them to eat there. It was only the outcasts from the united pack who lived in the Eastern Territory, except for the wolves who guarded the border of Jasper and Banff on a daily basis.

She knew that she would be seen quickly.

"MaKayla!" a sharp voice shouted. It was a female. The rogue smelled not only one wolf but many wolves. She couldn't determine an exact amount through scent. Still, she chose to freeze as instructed by the same wolf who shouted her name.

"Turn around slowly, you traitor," another female wolf said. She did.

The rogue female found herself staring at the family of the two wolves who were enslaved in Banff. Every member of them plus the thirteen wolves who fled from the border of the two parks were here. Claws was the one who told the Alpha family about the situation at the border of Jasper and Banff.

They knew about what Nars and Ed did so the thirteen Betas could escape, and for that reason, Fleet was confronting this rogue whose name was apparently, according to Claws, MaKayla, not that any of them really cared about what her name was.

"Where is my father?' asked Fleet. Magril was next to her older brother, sitting down of course.

The rogue didn't answer. Fleet was angered by this.

"Tell me!" he shouted.

MaKayla looked down at her front paws, feeling sincere guilt. How could she break such news like this−that their father was dead−to them when she was the one who ordered him killed? It would not end well for her if she told the truth. But then again, it would not end well for her if she lied either.

"The rogues I led here killed him..."  
"NO!" screamed Magril, who almost ran to her mate, despite her bad leg that was still in its cast, and let out screams into Liam's chest. They were muffled. Magril wanted to kill this rogue for this, if she could.

Fleet struck the rogue across the head with his right paw, claws extended, and drew blood, all before she could speak. "I am sorry about your far. I truly am...I didn't want them to kill him or the young wolf with him..."

"Ed," snarled Claws.

"COWARD!" roared Fleet. "Claws and Hutch told me that you are leading the rogues who killed them. "YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED THEM OFF!" he roared again. "You'd better give me a damn good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you."

MaKayla was understandingly nervous when she spoke again. She thought that her words sounded so weak, so stupid, so insincere. All she could do was to hope that this family of wolves thought different, but clearly they didn't when they all started snarling at her, with their teeth exposed.

"I told them to wait fifteen minutes but I didn't tell them why," said MaKayla. "I only have six minutes to tell you this before the leave the overhanging rock at the border of Jasper and Banff: I wanted to leave Banff for some time, like Princess and Melissa did. I deeply regret that I went with King in the first place so many years ago, and I also regret that I was not able to do something that stopped Princess and Runt from being captured, or those two wolves being killed."

"Other than to apologize to us, why on Earth are you here?" Kate snapped.

"You need to prepare your pack for battle immediately, ma'am. You only have minutes before twenty-nine rogues attack. I will help you where you need it.

"Good to know," spat Kate. "You can start now."

"How so, ma'am?"

Kate's response to this question was to tear open MaKayla's jugular vein, an action that ended her life almost immediately.

"I don't trust traitors," said Kate. These four wolves made Melissa nervous, being a former rogue from Banff, a former "traitor".

Melissa, in a posture of submission, approached the Alpha female slowly, shaking. "You won't execute me, will you, Kate?" she asked nervously.

"No," said Kate. "You have proven that you won't be betray us. If you were going to, you would have by now. I killed her because we won't be able to trust a rogue who lead twenty-nine of her own here. Plus, I did it for Nars and Ed."

"What do we do now?" asked Fleet, crying over the murder of his father and his oldest friend whom he knew from his and Magril's puppy days.

"We will prepare all of the Alphas and the Betas for battle," said Kate. "We will kill all twenty-nine of them for Nars, for Ed, and for Princess and Runt. No rogues will survive this battle!"

* * *

When the twenty-nine surviving members of MaKayla's unit arrived several minutes later, the first thing they were greeted by was the lifeless body of their leader who was once one of the ten wolves who guarded the cave of Princess and Runt.

Not even a single minute went by before the twenty-nine rogues saw a good number of Jasper Alphas and Betas coming at them from over the small hills. There was at least fifty Jasper wolves, meaning that the rogues were outnumbered by thirty-one wolves.

Six wolves were left dead with their throats slashed before the unit had a chance to react.

The rogues scattered but there were so many Jasper wolves that only a single rogue had a chance to get around the fifty-wolves. He was injured by Claudette, though. It was an injury to his leg; he wouldn't get very far before the rest of the Alphas, Betas and Omegas dealt with him. The rest of the pack was protecting the young, the elderly and the females who couldn't protect themselves.

What the fighting Jasper wolves did not realize was that the wounded wolf went after the four defenseless Omegas Candy and Sweets and Reba and Janice who were responsible for taking care of the wounded on their side, which they were none of. No one had a chance to react before the rogue attacked the Omega females.

Several wolves from the reinforcements heard the screams from the four Omegas. When they arrived, Sweets was bleeding from an extremely deep gash to her breast as Candy and Reba and Janice fought with the bleeding rogue about as good as they could fight. They weren't much of a match for this rogue and were only lasting because of the injury inflicted by Claudette before attacked them.

The reinforcements made all the different and the rogue was dead in seconds.

"Sweets!" cried Candy as she applied pressure to the wound on her best and oldest friend's breast, pressing a thick fragment of moss down with her large paws. "Don't move!"

"Someone get more moss!" roared Humphrey. "Sweets is losing too much blood!"

"Ca-Ca-Candy," groaned Sweets.

"Don't speak, Sweets!" screamed Candy.

"No...no..." the tan Omega pressed. "Listen! I-I l-live..." Sweets' life expired before she could finish her sentence.

Candy couldn't accept that her oldest friend was gone. Screaming and cursing the dead rogue who did this to Sweets, and all of the attacking rogues, even, Candy was now pressing against Sweets' breast trying, in vain, to revive her breast friend.

"Don't leave me, Sweets!" the light yellow Omega begged, and she then breathed into the dead wolf's muzzle. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" she screamed. "You can't!"

Janice, also in tears, as was Reba, led Candy away from the lifeless body of Sweets.

"I'm so sorry Candy," said Janice. "There's nothing you can do for Sweets..."

"You're wrong! I will fight to avenge her! If I die, then so be it, but I will take at least on rogue with me!" Candy shoved Janice into the dirt and ran toward the battle field, howling like a wolf possessed.

Reba helped her friend up. Neither of them were angry at Candy for her actions. They would have done the same thing if it was one of them who died.

"Candice! Come back!" shouted Eve. "Someone go after her! She won't last on her own for long!"

Humphrey and his oldest friend Salty, who was the mate of Sweets, ran after Candy, hoping they wouldn't be too late to save her.

* * *

"Candy!" gasped Claudette when she saw the light yellow Omega tear out a rogue's throat. "What are you doing here?!"

"Avenging Sweets!"

"What?" shouted Stinky.

"A rogue killed Sweets! Now I am killing them!"

This news of Sweets' death only made the brother and sister more determined to fight. An innocent and _defenseless_ wolf was dead! Their father and their oldest friend was a welcome sight as Claudette, Stinky and Candy struggled to fight off the rogues.

All together, all but ten of the rogues were dead. Either on her own or with the help of the Alphas or Betas, or Humphrey, an Omega, Candy killed five of those ten, in addition to one that almost killed Claudette.

The last five rogues put up a fight, even lighting, only _lightly_, wounding Claws, until the reinforcements arrived, and they were quickly taken down.

The battle was surprisingly shorter than the wolves of Jasper expected it to be. And Kate was right, though. Not one of the thirty invading rogues was left alive. But that fact did not make the fact that three wolves who didn't stand a chance−Candy, Nars and Ed−lost their lives to the rogues. The wolves who actually fought this very short battle wanted to switch places with Sweets, Nars and Ed. They were the only Jasper wolves who lost their lives to the rogues and none of them had a chance to defend themselves before they lost their lives, and they all suffered when they were killed. The Jasper wolves who actually fought couldn't bear to think about how the only wolves who died had no knowledge of fighting.

Now that the fighting was over, Kate ordered several Alphas to retrieve the bodies of Nars and Ed, once things calmed down enough to issue orders to anyone. That was when the few wolves who were wounded were stabilized and being taken care of by Candy, Eve and Reba and Janice.

The Alphas sent to bring the bodies of Nars and Ed back did not return with anything but more disturbing news. They informed Kate, much to her horror, that there was not a lot left of the bodies of Nars and Ed to bring back easily. They told Kate that it was a gruesome sight and that some of them lost their lunch when they came across the scene.

"What do you want us to do about their remains?" one of the Alphas asked.

"We can't just leave them there for the scavengers," said Kate. "It would be disrespectful to Nars and Ed and their relatives, which include my family because Fleet, Nar's son, is married to my daughter Claudette. I mean, Fleet and Magril are opens now−they already lost their mother−and they lost a good friend, too. And what about Ed's family? Surely he has parents, siblings, cousins and so on! We must think of someone way to get their remains, no matter how little is left of them, back for burial with Sweets. They all deserve proper funerals."


	17. Two Wolves Found Out

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Two Wolves Found Out**

In Banff, it was now the morning after King sent thirty rogues to Jasper. Since they had not yet returned, he and Queen could do nothing but assume the worst. That they were all dead or captured.

"How could those thirty Alphas _all_ lose their lives to or be captured by that Jasper scum,?" Queen asked her mate. "They're the strongest and smartest of our pack, next to us!"

"They were obviously outnumbered," said Kate. "The worst part about this failed mission to capture Jasper is that it gives the wolves there yet another reason to attack us. But that isn't important right now. We have to check on Princess and Runt. No one was even near their cave with all the hysteria going on about those thirty wolves' mission."

Princess and Runt were still in the cave, and still behind the rock. The events of last night were still fresh in their minds. No couple who truly loved each other would truly forget the first time they mated. It was the best any male had ever made Princess feel in her entire life. Of course, they knew how dangerous of a decision they made by mating with each other. King had gave them specific orders NOT to mate with each other or they were be terrible punishment.

Princess and Runt didn't mate just once but twice last night. First, with Runt mating from behind her, which was the proper way wolves mated with each other. This was the interaction between the two that probably got Princess pregnant. Six hours later, Princess and Runt did it a second time, to be sure that she would get pregnant, even though it did not mean she would have more pups if they mated more than once. The second time, Princess rode Runt passionately, and when he climaxed again, they fell asleep in that position, with Runt still inside his mate.

That was the case now, even, the morning after they mated twice. They were still in that same position as the night before. Princess was on top of Runt in the position that they mated a second time to give her a greater chance of getting pregnant. She had told him, then, that "he was no runt when he came to mating, for sure" but that offended him, since she had implied that she thought he was a Runt. So Princess had to explain that he was "a big wolf to begin with, but was bigger when it came to mating" to make things better. That was more of the pleasure she felt talking than or she would have given a better explanation.

Princess did not get off of Runt's lap when they woke up. She smiled down at him, and he smiled back at her. Princess was setting straight up on Runt, with her hide legs off the sides of Runt's hips. She with Runt stuck inside her from last night, Princess placed her paws on his chest. She did this to hold him down even more effectively than she did with her hips alone. Princess was much heavier and larger than Runt, being a year older than him.

Princess had no intentions of riding Runt again, or mating with him in any way again−they were both burned out after what they did−twice−last night. For that reason, Princess just massaged Runt's chest with her huge paws. (Runt was wanting her paws to be massaging things other than his chest, but he said nothing. This felt good enough for him.)

She had her claws retracted as she massaged Runt's chest so she wouldn't draw blood from her paw.

Princess was running the individual toes on her front paws through Runt's chest fur, an action that almost turned him on, when they heard wolves walking toward their cave. It was a male and female speaking to each other about them. They knew it was King and Queen.

Princess immediately stopped massing Runt's chest so he could set up. They had no chance to get out of this position, though. Not that it mattered a whole lot either. The smell in this cave alone gave them away of mating with each other. It let King and Queen know that mating went on in the cave before they even went inside it. When they went inside and saw Princess on top of Runt, holding him in her front legs, the two Alpha wolves lost it.

The two dominant wolves of the pack literally tore Princess off of Runt. King threw Princess one way, toward the boulder, into the moss, much to his anger, as he had wanted her to hit the boulder to hurt her back or head. Queen threw Runt into the wall of the cave.

"Have you two fools forgotten what I told you about NOT MATING?!" roared King.

As the couple stared up at them from their positions on the ground, Queen said, "No matter now! There will be Hell to pay for what you did. BOTH OF YOU!" she roared.


	18. The Mournful Howls of Claudette

**Chapter Seventeen**

**The Mournful Howls of Claudette**

The same night as the battle with the rouges took place, just after the funerals of Sweets, Nars and Ed, Claudette found herself alone at The Howling Roc. She was not howling happily but mournfully. Howling mournfully not only for Princess and Runt but also the three defenseless wolves who died during the recent battle with the rogues from Banff−Sweets, Nars and Ed.

Nars and Ed were Northern Alpha wolves. Nars was the father of Fleet, the mate of Claudette, and his little sister Magril, both of whom were good friends with Ed before his death. Nars and Ed had been on watch with thirteen Eastern and Western Betas when thirty rogues attacked Jasper. They sacrificed themselves so the others could escape with their lives.

Sweets was a Western Omega wolf, the mate of an Omega called Salty, who was the oldest friend of her pack's current Alpha male, Humphrey. She was the best friend of the Western Omegas whose names were Candy, Reba and Janice, the last two being vegetarians. Candy was the mate of Mooch; Janice was the mate of Shakey, two of Humphrey's and Salty's oldest friends.

During the shirt battle with those twenty-nine rouges−the thirtieth was killed by Kate before any fighting took place−Candy and Sweets and Reba and Janice were response for taking care of the wounded during and after the battle. Claws, an Eastern Beta, was the only wolf injured, and her injuries were minor.

Although all thirty of the invading rogues were killed, Sweets lost her life in the battle as well, despite Candy's attempts to save her friend's life.

Claudette was howling at the moon even though it was not a full moon but a new moon. She did not really care about how much of the moon she could see or she couldn't see. Even when she couldn't see the moon at all, such was the case now, Claudette knew that the moon was still there to be howled at.

Howling for the deceased was an almost ancient tradition of wolves, whether from Jasper Park, Banff Park, Red Deer Park or any other location on Earth. As long as there were wolves, they howled to mourn those who lost their lives. There was one time, only one, when Claudette took her howling more serious than any other time she howled. That was to mourn those who died.

Even though she was only a puppy then, Claudette still remembered the first time she howled to mourn someone who was dead or dying. When Princess's throat had been bitten open by King two years as, after saving Runt's life, as she was recovering in an empty cave near Banff. They had all been sure Princess would not make it through the night, so all of the wolves whom were present there howled for Princess to give her some comfort in what they had thought would have been the female's last day on Earth. Princess remarkably survived her injury.

Claudette still remembered how, as she'd howled for Princess when her, possibly, now sister-in-law was dying, breathing her last breaths, after saving Runt's life from her own pack, and her own father, the rest of the wolves howled as well. And not only for a dying Princess but also for a female whose name was Liza, the aunt of Kate and sister of Eve, who lost her life fighting more rouges than she could handle. Liza had been attempting to protect Claudette and Stinky. After telling her niece and nephew to Runt, she was mortally injured, and died alone. Her body was later found by the others, who were led by the pups she died for.

When Claudette could no longer due to her vocal cords being sore after howling for so long, she looked to the ground. The first thing she saw was not a puddle of rain but a puddle of all the tears she shed in the past hour.

Claudette laid down on her belly. She looked at her reflection in the puddle of her tears on the ground. She saw a reflection of herself as she appeared currently, as an adolescent wolf.

Claudette was only just realizing, as she stared into this puddle, how much more she resembled her grandmother, Eve, than her own mother, Kate. She saw no features in her face that resembled Humphrey, her father, or Winston and Tony, her grandfathers. Claudette had big...well everything like Eve. While she had big ears like Eve, they were more pointed like Kate's. Claudette's nose and muzzle were wider than Eve's, but the width of her head was comparable to the width of her grandmother's head. She had big, seductive eyes like both Kate and Eve.

The greatest, and the most noticeable, difference between Claudette and Eve was their manes. Eve's mane was shorter and it curved along her cheeks. Claudette had the curves her in her mate, but nowhere near as many; only one curl on each side of her head, and they went in the opposite direction of Eve's curls. The rest of her mane was long like her mother's.

Claudette's face was where her similarities with Eve ended, except for the width of her breast and butt. Albeit, they were not as noticeable as with Kate, but Claudette had curves at her belly, but her rear was equivalent in side to Eve, rather than Kate. Because of the fact that Claudette had more fat on her belly, and body in general−due to having ate more than her mother, who grew up when the Eastern and Western packs were constantly fighting over food and territory, while her daughter did not−she appeared to be much fatter than Kate. And she was. Claudette had bigger feet than the rest of her relatives, and a more bushy tail, more like her aunt Lilly's.

Normally Claudette had that same breathtaking smile that her mother had, except that she had larger teeth that resembled Eve's.

Claudette was not showing her breathtaking smile or her beauty now. The expression on her face could be best described as absolutely tragic. Claudette's frown was so powerful that the lines of her dimples around her jaw line were visible. Claudette's eyelids were half shut, make her seem more tragic than she really was. Her eyes were down with her eyelids, as were her ears and hackles.

Claudette looked more like one of the depressed wolves in all of Jasper than one of the most beautiful, most sexy, wolves in Jasper in this moment. While "sexy" was how she could be described by the males in her pack on normal occasions, "tragic" was a more accurate way to describe her now. And it as fitting, too, with her brother Runt and, possibly, now her sister-in-law, Princess having been taking by the most brutal pack of wolves every known.

Tears were flowing from er eyes once again, as she wailed with psychological agony, rather than howled, now.

Claudette had her face buried in the mud created by the mixture of her tears and the soil when Stinky, Fleet, Magril and Mica cautiously made their way toward her.

Claudette only knew there was now four other wolves here at the peak of The Howling Rock with her because she smelled them. Her already tragic appearance was made worse by the mud that was now coating her normally beautiful face. The mud dripped down her face onto her breast and paws.

"Claudette," said Magril, who had the most soothing voice of the four wolves who came to see her, "Kate wants to see you."

"What for?" Claudette almost wailed again.

"Thanks to Claws and Scar and Candy," said Stinky, "we possibly have a plan to rescue Princess and Runt."


	19. Princess's and Runt's Trial

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Princess's and Runt's Trial**

At what had no better term than the meeting ground of Banff, Princess and Runt had their front and hind legs tied up with the same shackle-like vines.

It was not the entire Banff pack here but only the ten highest-ranking Alphas of the pack, including the Alpha male King and the Alpha female Queen. They were the parents of Princess, as much as she wanted to deny that unpleasant truth, and now the in-laws of Runt. Runt hated to be related to them, and they hated to be related to him.

These ten high-ranking Alphas were here to issue punishment for what Princess and Runt did to each other, twice, last night while thirty rogues−all dead now−were sent to Jasper, and the rest of the wolves were out of hearing range of the cave. What they did was mate with each other, not once but twice. Because Princess and Runt mated twice, King and Queen felt that they deserved to be punished twice as worse than if they had only done it once. Princess and Runt mated twice after King and Queen warmed them that nothing good would happen to them if Runt got Princess preg−no, nothing could would happen to them even if they mated and it didn't result her pregnant.

King and Queen felt that non-Alpha wolves, _especially_ slaves, did not deserve to reproduce, and that they should be punished for doing so. The Banff Alphas feared that if Beta and Omega wolves reproduced that there would be more "lesser wolves" bore than Alphas. They felt that the only pure wolves were Alphas, and that any other rank, excluding pups that weren't given a rank yet, were the scum of the Earth.

Runt was lucky that Queen had not yet castrated−sterilized−him for mating with her daughter. He recalled how Queen had threatened to do just that when they first arrived in Banff. She also threatened to do the same thing to Princess. But, for some unknown reason, she didn't do it when they learned that Runt had mated with their daughter. The couple of Princess and Runt could only assume that King had stopped his mate from doing that so their punishment could actually be determined by this "jury" of wolves first. Anything could be better than being castrated by another wolf...surely? But the rogues had sick minds, so who knew what terrible punishments they could imagine. They could think of something worse than castration.

Princess's and Runt's hackles rose when they heard King's voice for the first time. Just the sight of these two made Runt's one eye that he still had left hurt. Even the empty socket, under the organic eye patch Princess made for him, hurt, and he couldn't even see with it.

"My mate already knows why we are here, but we're sure that the eight of you are wondering what this is all about," was all King said.

The Alpha female took over to explain the situation. "Those two fools tied up with vines are here because they mated with each other while everyone was far away from the cave in which they're being held."

The eight Alpha rogues gasped and whispered amongst each other until Queen spoke again. "We are here to bring up possibilities of punishment and then to vote on the one that is most appropriate for the crime they committed. I should note that Princess and Runt didn't mate once but _twice_," she added, and there were more gasps of shock.

Immediately, there was a frenzy of shouting of suggestions.

"Sterilize them both!"

"Hang the Runt! BURN THE BITCH!"

"Execute them both!"

"Mutilation!"

"Blind them!"

"Eat them alive!"

"Stone her to death and make HIM WATCH!"

"Make them fight to death in the blood sports!"

Before King and Queen could give their opinions of these suggestions, and give their own suggestions, the eight Alphas were trying to kill each other.

All it took was a scream of "STOP!" for Queen for order to be returned to this meeting.

"If you fools pull that kind of stunt again," snarled King, "I will personally make sure that each of you are put through your own suggestions!"

"Now let's get on with voting on and debating your ideas before we just chose one without asking any of you," said Queen. "I am for the idea of making them compete in the blood sports. I think the rest of you are ignorant for even opening your muzzles."

"Agreed," said King.

This angered seven of the eight Alphas.

Queen asked all of the questions.

"How many of you are for castrating both Princess and Runt?"

Only one of the rogues raised his paw, and that was the rogue who suggested it.

"How many of you want to see Runt hanged and Princess burned alive?"

This question had the same result and so did every other up to now. For each of the suggestions, the only vote the received was from the rogue who brought it up.

"How many of you would want to see Princess and Runt fight for their lives in the blood sports until they are done?"

Three wolves voted for this punishment: King and Queen, and the rogue who suggested it. She was receiving praise for being the only one who thought about this.

"Then it is settled," said King. Seven of the eight wolves started ranting immediately. "Not this again. It's your fault there's only one great idea. Don't blame us that you can't come up with anything good. Now let's plan out how we will carry out this punishment!"

* * *

In the end, everything was agreed upon by the ten Alphas.

Princess and Runt would be allowed to work together every time they would have to fight for their lives in the blood sports, which they would have to do until this time of the year was over. The ten rogues didn't see Princess and Runt having a great advantage when the couple would have to fight either teams of the strongest wolves or even strong wolves fighting on his or her own.

Princess was pissed off, by this news, but that wasn't even good enough term to describe how much this all angered her. So was Runt, but only Princess was vocal about it.

"I expect to have the choice to fight you two eventually!" she shouted at her parents. "Not only will we kill ANYONE we have to fight but we'll kill the both of you if we ever get the chance...mother and father!" Princess added this in the most insulting tone possibly. She might as well have addressed them by their real names.

"We'll just see how you do!" shouted King. "Get ready for your first battle!"


	20. Slavery Becomes a Battle for Survival

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Slavery Becomes a Battle for Survival**

"Move it!" a male rogue with black fur barked at Princess and Runt as they, against their own will, made their way to where the rogues held the blood sports. The wolves in Jasper had The Great wolf games and the rogues in Banff had blood sports.

As long as King's and Queen's pack of then only fifty rogues, and now two hundred and twenty−after thirty lost their lives in the battle in Jasper, which King's pack did not know the true result of−was in Banff, there were blood sports held on a yearly basis. The blood sports of Banff were a more violent version of the Great Wolf Games that all other wolf packs took part in. Unlike The Great Wolf Games, which had too many different events that made the games up to list, there was only a single event that made up the blood sports.

That one event was what gave the blood sports their name and made them so violent. In the only event to ever make up the blood sports, wolves would fight each other in a battle that could last anywhere from only minutes or even hours−maybe even more than half a day!−until a winner was declared. And there was only one way that could happen. They either fought until one or both of the wolves couldn't fight anymore, whether because of injuries or exhaustion alone.

If there was one wolf left standing in the end, he or she would be declared the winner of that one round, and would move on to face the champion of the next round from last year. If the champion won, he would move on, and if he lost, the competitor would move on to fight the next champion instead. But first, whoever was the victor, new or old, would have to make the decision to either spare or execute the defeated wolf. And that wolf, if he or she knew what was best for him or her, would not try to defend him- or herself, or death would be certain. Most victors chose to execute the defeated wolf just to lessen the competition for the rest of the year. Many wolves died in the blood sports, and that was why it took place in the fall, when it was mating season in Banff. There wasn't a female in Banff that didn't mate, whether with a mate or just a random wolf, during mating season.

The rules did not change any for Betas and Omegas and slaves, but obviously they didn't have much, if any, support from the rogues. That didn't even change if they were undefeated by the time the blood sports were declared over. Of course, something would happen that would result in that Beta, Omega or slave, even if that slave was an Alpha, losing something, normally his or her life. The blood sports were corrupt and had few rules that dictated them.

Never in the history of the blood sports in Banff was there any wolf who wasn't an Alpha of King's pack who won, or even lasted long because of the corruption involved in these "games". Something always happened to ensure that it was members of King's pack who won in the end, whether by distraction or the killing of an opponent of one of King's wolves. Wolves who didn't official belong to King's pack usually never left the "arena" champion, and if they did, well, they didn't make it very far usually. And if they did lose, they were never spared by who it was that defeated them. Lastly, the victor always made the loser suffer.

* * *

Princess still remembered the first time she ever competed in a blood sport, even now, when her father and mother, whom she'd never respectfully address as such again, felt she was old, smart, strong and healthy enough to compete. It was when her parents felt they had trained her well enough when King and Queen thought that Princess could handle herself in the blood sports.

Although it made her feel like the biggest fool on Earth now, when she was hardly an adolescent, Princess remembered being so excited to finally be a competitor in the blood sports.

By the end of her first day of competing in those blood sports, Princess's parents were so proud of her, and grateful that their daughter survived without suffering even a miniscule scratch. Princess never lost a single fight on that day, nor did she spare anyone whom she defeated. As she had been reminded of very recently by the rogue who defected from King's pack, Melissa, one of Princess's first victims was Melissa's sister.

During the first event Princess took part in early the next day−when she was well rested−things took a turn for the worse for Princess. She had been meant to fight a wolf who would be her cousin if he was still alive today. He was a dark brown wolf like King and Queen, and also an adult, so he was much larger than Princess.

Princess did not last very long against her own cousin before she was overpowered and defeated by him. No one had done anything to intervene until the audience realized that Princess's own cousin was going to execute her with no mercy and no remorse at all. King was the only wolf who intervened−Queen had been too horrified by this almost act of fratricide, or killing of one's brother, sister, or in this case, cousin, to react−and he tore his nephew open from throat to belly, spilling all of his guts from his heart to his entrails out.

Considering that King was the alpha male and dominant wolf of his pack then, and that he still was, there was nothing that the lower-ranking wolves saw wrong with King saving the life of his and Queen's only surviving pup, the rest of whom died in a hurricane like storm when Princess's eyes were still shut, she was so young.

King and Queen spoke with their daughter in their cave afterwards, when she still lived in the same cave as her parents, but was almost old enough to move out and find her own cave. They told Princess that she would never compete in the blood sports again until she was stronger, physically and mentally.

* * *

King and Queen did not realize it yet, but it was banning their daughter from participating in the blood sports that made her more like her Jasper relatives than her relatives in Banff, which were few compared to how many relatives of hers still lived in Jasper. They didn't realize why she was so peace loving back then and they still didn't know why.

"You expect me to fight when I could be pregnant!" Princess shouted at King, now, at present. "Think about your grandpups!"

"I don't want grandpups to have an _Omega_ as a father!" retorted King. "I will never accept any pups you have with Runt as my grandpups! Try using that as an excuse to get out of this when you marry an Alpha, and maybe then I'll accept your pups as grandpups! Any pups you have with Run will never mean anything to me!"

"She is already tainted by the bodily fluids, the genes, of an Omega!" shouted Queen. "She will always be impure and she will always produce weak pups now, even if she marries an Alpha from our pack later on. I would never call any pups she gives birth to my grandpups!"

"Enough of this family drama! This is not the place for that!" said King, whose patients with his daughter and son-in-law was growing thin. "Get ready for your first competitor, you two, or I'll make you fight to the death with each other instead of him. Bring out the first competitor!"

Princess's and Runt's ears and hackles rose simultaneously when they heard a wolf howl from behind them. The couple turned around to see a gray wolf who was much larger than King, and he was a large wolf to begin with.

Princess was the only of the two who was almost equal in size to this male rogue, but even she was smaller than he was. But Runt, whose was still an adolescent, almost an adult, and, yes, the runt of his litter being why he so small for his age, was dwarfed by this rogue.

The couple heard King shout "Begin!" and this male was on them in an instant. First, he tackled Runt, knocking the small wolf senseless with no effort. This allowed him to have Princess to his own in this fight for a few minutes before Runt recovered from that blow to his head. This wolf's claws had sliced the thin vine holding his organic eye patch together. It had fallen off, revealing the cavity in his head where the eyeball used to be.

When Runt saw that massive and brutish wolf using his strength to pin Princess to the ground with nothing more than his front legs, he jumped onto the back of their competitor. Runt bit the rogue on the neck, deep, before he was tossed off his back, and landed _hard_ on the ground. Runt groaned as he just laid there.

The rogue turned his back on Princes so he could focus on Runt, think the female was still unconscious. Princess knew that he was thinking that and so she took advantage of it by sliding between his hind legs, still on her back. She ended up with her head lined up with the rogue's chest, like she hoped she would. Princess had violent intentions; she was in perfect position for what she wanted to do. It was not to dig his stomach open and spill his intestines all over her body. Princess wouldn't be surprised if it took more than that to stop a rogue who was hell-bent on killing her, as hard as that was to believe. Rather, Princess's plan was to castrate the rogue. _That would put him down for sure,_ she thought. Princess extended her claws and dug him open between his legs, out of desperation to save herself and Runt. She didn't care of the others condemned her for winning through a low blow and not actually fighting him to the death as the audience was hoping she would have. Blood sprayed all over the ground and on her belly.

Princess cursed and vomited when the screaming and bleeding rogue fell on top of her, the pain was so bad. He weighed much more than she did. She had to kick him off her with her hind legs to move. Princess went to Runt immediately, knowing that the rogue who was bleeding out wouldn't have the energy to do anything more. He was in too much pain to even do something else, too.

Princess helped her mate and the two wolves stood together, feeling victorious not only because the defeated one of the strongest rogues in Banff, albeit through a low blow, but a win was a win when there were no rules about such an attack, but just because they were both still alive.

For that reason, most shocking to the couple holding each other in their front legs, the audience of rogues, even King and Queen, was cheering, despite the low blow Princess took. That was actually something they were glad Princess did because no other wolf had ever done that, and the more a wolf suffered, the more enjoyment they got from the blood sports. And not much could make a wolf suffer, without dying, more than getting castrated by another wolf who used her claws to do it.

This audience of rogue wolves never would have expected that these two, well one of them, would have had the chance, or be smart enough, to defeat their first opponent, considering who he was. King had chose him just for Princess and Runt, with the intentions of them losing but not being executed...yet.

As Princess and Runt, as shocked as they were by it, took in all the praise and cheering that was actually being directed at them, the couple could hear shouts of "Execute him!" and "Mutilate him" between the cheers, from the wolves who enjoyed this battle more than anyone else did.

Princess said this to tease the audience about what those blood thirsty wolves wanted to see: "What do you want us to do?" she shouted.

"EXECUTE HIM!" every member of the audience shouted at all once, causing everyone's ears to ring.

Runt stayed behind to rest, even though both Princess and himself needed to rest, as Princess went to stand over the bleeding rogue.

"Any last words?" Princess said to mock the dying wolf.

"DIE!" he screamed and jumped up. He threw Princess to the ground.

Runt and the audience gasped with shock at this wolf's sudden burst of energy.

Runt screamed and then blacked out. He wouldn't remember anything of what happened next until he was told about it later. When the blood and dust finally cleared, one wolf was dead and four were standing over the body of the dead wolf. It was the competing rogue who was dead.

The four wolves who were standing over the deceased rogue, who was killed as a result of his soft underbelly being clashed from hip to hip by all four of these wolves−Princess and Runt and King and Queen. Not one of these wolves realized that the other three had taken part in the slaughter of this rogue.

"You-you saved Princess?" gasped Runt, addressing her parents.

"You and her defeated him," said King. "The rules of the blood sports call for _him_ to be executed by those who defeated him and _not_ the other way around. We enforced those rules."

"Don't get too used to us saving you two every time you get in trouble, even if it is to protect our traditions," Queen took over. "But, now, get some rest for the night. You've actually earned it. But you _will_ be expected to fight again tomorrow when you are both up to it. I hope I have made myself clear. Now get back to your cave before we change our mind."


	21. Send the Alphas to Banff

**Chapter Twenty**

**"Send the Alphas to Banff"**

Kate was hysterical over another yet another nightmare not just about Princess and her youngest pup, and youngest son, Runt, but also the recent battle with twenty-nine rogues from Banff, whom were all dead. But that wasn't why Kate was having nightmares about the battle. Sweets, Nars and Ed were killed by the rogues, and Claudette, her oldest pup and her only daughter, would have met the same fat if it wasn't for the sudden and unexpected intervention of Candy. Candy had gone into a rage over Sweets' death and even killed at least one rogue on her own.

The look on Kate's face, as she looked over the gathering of wolves at the meeting grounds outside of her's and Humphrey's cave, said it all about how she was feeling.

It was rare to see Kate's ears laying back but they were now. Kate's eyeballs were so larger tat her eyebrows were pushed upwards some. Her lack of sleep over everything that happened recently was evident by the bags her eyes. Kate's mouth was stuck in a posture of grief; her big, round nose was shaking as much as her mouth was. The wind was blowing from behind Kate, blowing her tail and mane in the direction of her audience. Thankfully it was a warm breeze, even though it was mid way through autumn. There was already some snow on the ground in Jasper.

Kate began to her. Because her voice was shaking like her nose, as a result of her jaw shaking, the audience was shocked when they heard the voice of their Alpha female. The wolves had never heard or seen Kate like this before.

"We...we..." Kate was shedding tears.

Humphrey, Claudette, Stinky and Lilly were standing on either side of Kate. The two males, Humphrey and Stinky, were to the right of Kate, and the two females, Claudette and Lilly, were to the left of Kate. All four of them had sad expressions on their faces as well. Humphrey was the only one of the five wolves who didn't have tears in his or her eyes, shockingly. It was probably because he had cried himself dry already while the others still had tears to shed.

Humphrey ran his nose through his mate's mane. He whispered into her ear: "Do you want me to take over, dear?"

Kate's response was to turn her head toward Humphrey. The only thing to change about her expression was that she stuck her ears up very slightly. Kate only nodded; she did not utter a response.

Humphrey picked up where his distressed mate left off. "We are here to announce our plan to rescue Princess and Runt from the rogues, and nothing else right now. It was Kate who suggested that we send a third of the Alphas, from each of the packs−the North, the South and our own, as well as from Red Deer Park−to rescue Princess and Runt, hopefully, without any conflict with the rogues."

Stinky, the second oldest pup and the oldest son of Kate and Humphrey, cut it. "I'm sorry to interrupt, father, but there is a storm coming in from the East, from Banff. It is going to be a nasty one and it could ruin any rescue missions that we attempt. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but we can't risk losing any of the Alphas to a storm that could end up being as power as a hurricane." Humphrey saw Marcel and Paddy, the duck and goose who led him and Kate back to Jasper from Idaho a few years ago, and knew where his oldest son got the information.

Claudette said, "What should we do?"

"We wait until the storm passes," said Kate, unexpectedly. "Princess won't let anything bad happen to Runt. We won't let anything bad happen to the Alphas."


	22. A Storm Delays the Rescue

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**A Storm Delays the Rescue**

"No!" screamed Kate, from inside her cave.

The rest of her family was with her, and it took them all to drag Kate back into the cave, out of the storm.

Just as they had been warned by Marcel and Paddy, it was now storming. Kate and the wolves who went to get her back in the safety of her cave were lucky they weren't blown away immediately. It was like a hurricane out there, even though Jasper Park was nowhere near the coastline of Canada.

Humphrey confronted Kate. "Kate, dear, you have to stay in the cave. It's too dangerous out..."

"I want my son BACK!" she screamed. "I want him back! Oh, my baby...he's stuck in Banff with those rogues! I WANT MY SON BACK!" Kate was wailing at the top of her lungs, almost louder than the wind outside her cave.

"Kate," said Eve, her mother, "Runt is with Princess. I am sure he is fine..."

"No!" Kate went on. "No one is safe in Banff, not even Princess! They won't be safe! We have to rescue them now."

Claws, who had been in the area with Scar and Hutch, guarding the cave, when the storm came in, said, "First of all, I realize you have more authority than me, Kate, but listen to me. If we send anyone to Banff, they won't make it once foot in this storm. Do you want them to all die before they even have a chance to rescue your son and Princess?"

"No..."

"I didn't think so!" shouted Claws. "I don't know what you're going through, but I know you're hurting. There's nothing we can do now but wait for the storm to blow over. If we send wolves to Banff, and they don't make it, not only will they all lose their lives for nothing, but we won't be doing anything to help Princess and Runt."

Kate threw herself to the floor of the cave, crying. She knew that Claws was right. She wasn't thinking clearly about the situation. If the Alphas left now, they would be splattered all over the side of her cave when the winds throw them. Kate remembered how she, and the wolves who came out to get her, was almost blown away. Kate put her paws over her eyes and just went on with her mournful howling.

"Stinky," said Magril, "did Marcel and Paddy let you know when they felt the storm would be over?"

Stinky looked from his mother to Magril. "He didn't stick around very long, but Marcel expected the storm to last anywhere from a few hours to half a day."

"Half a day of peace for Princess and Runt," muttered Mica, the mate of Stinky, and daughter of Shakey and Janice. "Those rogues are fools, but they wouldn't go out in a storm like this just to abuse Princess and Runt. At least there is something good that comes out of this storm."

"I just wish there was a way would could know what Princess and Runt are going through now," Claudette said wishfully. "Spying on those rogues and having those spies get away wouldn't be an easy task, though." Now, Claudette addressed what Stinky told them. "Half a day?" she gasped. "I don't care of Princess and Runt will be safe from the rogues in that half a day. I'd rather have them safe and home with us again."

* * *

Just as Mica was speculating, Princess and Runt were alright in Banff because of the storm. It was worse in Banff than it was in Jasper, and the rain would sometimes blow into their cave, getting the two wolves wet. That was why they had decided to get behind the bolder, where all of the moss Princess collected two years ago still lay. For reasons they could not imagine, King and Queen had decided to leave the moss there. The couple had shook themselves dry before they laid down on the moss blanket.  
Now, Princess and Runt were keeping each other warm. The wind that was blowing into the cave did not help with that at all. It was why they were cold. If anything, anything at all, came from this hurricane-strength storm, it was that none of the rogues could leave their cave. Therefore, the round of the blood sports they were meant to compete it today wouldn't happen until this storm ended.

It also gave Princess and Runt the privacy to, finally, discuss an escape plan. The couple was tired of being here in their cave, having to live out each hellish day wondering about when they would get to eat again−something which they had not done properly in days, maybe a week or two, they've lost track of how long they've been in Banff, being slaves. They spent each day worrying about if they would live or die, and they were sick of it. They wanted out of Banff as soon as this storm was over. But how would they do that? As soon as it was over, King would send wolves back to their cave to guard it. They would not even have a chance, or a way, to carry their plan out. If made them wonder if there was a point to even making an escape plan, but they agreed to go through with it again.

"Runt," said Princess, "listen up. There is one way that we can escape and they won't be able to track us. They won't even know where we went!"

Runt noted how exited Princess sounded, but he did not know what she was talking about. How could they basically vanish without a trace? He cocked his head. "How?"

Princess went around back of the boulder and motioned for Runt to follow her. When he came around the boulder, Princess was carefully digging into the soil. It collapsed as she dug.

"What-"

"I found out about this a couple hours ago, when you were sleep," said Princess, as she continued digging. "It could be our way out of here, Runt. We just have to get this hole dug before the storm storms, and then we are out of here."

"But how can we cover our tracks long enough to avoid being tracked by the rogues?" asked Runt.

"We'll just take all the mosses in this cave and trail it from where it lays to where I'm digging, and cover up the hole with it. We won't dig the entire thing open, just big enough for us to fit through." Princess paused for a second. "Now stop staring at me at me like you don't understand and start digging," she added. "We don't know how soon or how late this storm will end. If we can escape now, the better off we are. I'd rather not have to escape when King and Queen come get us for the blood sports, and get chased through a tunnel that could end up being a dead end."

Runt started digging, but they both stopped when they sensed that something was changing. They knew that the storm had been doing on four about two or three hours before now. Princess and Runt went to the mouth of their cave and saw that the storm was dying down. Wolves were starting to walk around outside, now that it was not raining, and the winds were not strong enough to tear a flower's petals off. So far, none of them appeared to be King and Queen, and those whom were out of their caves seemed to be more concerned about the damage from the story than Princess and Runt.

"Dig! Dig!" Princess whispered frantically as she darted for the possible tunnel at the other side of the boulder. Runt followed her.

"There's more dirt than I expected here," said Runt. "This will take a while to dig a hole big enough for us to slip through." The couple had been digging for at least ten minutes since they noticed that the storm had died down noticeably, and they had not yet made a dent in the floor of this cave that was eroded to soil. It must have accumulated over the years, and filled the tunnel−they were sure there had to be a tunnel under here; why else would there be so much dirt to dig through?

"Dig faster!" gasped Princess. "We must get this good enough for escape as soon as possible, Runt." And then she started digging like some sort of machine that humans would have used for this task. Runt did the same thing, and within another fifteen minutes, they had a start on the hole that would soon be big enough for them to get into whatever was underneath this pile of dirt.

Princess and Runt two were digging like their lives depended on it−well, they did.. And their lives just might depend on their digging even more than ever now...they did not know that King and Queen came out of their cave just as they went started digging faster...


	23. Just One Wolf Escapes from Banff

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Just One Wolf Escapes from Banff**

"Keep digging, Runt!" an exhausted Princess whispered, not shouted because there were rogues beginning to stir that that the storm had come to an end, even though there were signs that it could start raining again. Thankfully, those rogues were too busy investigating the damage caused by the storm, under the supervision of King and Queen, and weren't that worried about Princess and Runt, or any of their slaves.

Princess and Runt could only pray that those damn stupid rogues would be preoccupied with the storm damage long enough for them to get this digging done, for them to make their escape! They kept on digging as fast as they had been when it was still storming; they had been digging for at least two hours now, and they were only half way through the soil that came from the erosion of the cave floor because of the water that dripped from the ceiling after storms like the recent one. And it was doing such now; the water was dripping from too many holes in the ceiling to count. Occasionally, there was that rare drop of water that hit either Princess or Runt on the back of the head. It was rare when water droplets hit either of them on the head, or anywhere on their bodies, but it happened enough to be getting on the nerves of the two wolves who were digging for their lives.

Princess's and Runt's paws were numb from all the digging, but neither of them wanted to take a break from this grueling task that they knew would end up saving their lives in the end. And if it all worked out in the end, this abuse of their front paws would all be worth it. They just wanted to get this hole dug, and to the end of the tunnel that they were more and more sure was there with the more they dug. It did worry them, though, that it took them over two hours to get this far. That meant another two hours, minimum, of this digging till they had the hole dug all the way through. They had it wide enough for the larger of the two, Princess, to fit through, but they could tell that it was only half way dug down, maybe a little less than half. It was unlikely that King and Queen and their followers would take another two or three hours to clean up all the damage caused by the storm. Princess's parents were strict, and they would not let a single wolf rest until all the debris was cleaned up, or that wolf had a heart attack first.

Princess was afraid that this task would take longer than two hours to complete; they didn't know what they would find after they got through this pile of dirt. Would there be a wall of rock there? Or would it all be eroded away to nothing? Or would it be more dirt they would have to dig through. Either way, the time it would take for them to dig through the dirt they _knew about_ was not good. King and Queen would, more likely than they wouldn't, have all the clean-up of the of their "arena" for the blood sports done before Princess and Runt had their digging done.

When King and Queen felt that their "arena" was clean enough for the blood sports to be held again, they would probably come and get Princess and Runt so the couple could fight their next opponent. And they feared that it would not be so easy for them the next time they fought a rogue. It was bad enough the first time they fought. First, Runt had been knocked senseless by that rogue, and then Princess was almost killed. She would have died if it was not for the sudden intervention of Runt−to save his mate's life−and King and Queen. King and Queen only saved Princess's life because she was the one who defeated the rogue; she was not the one who was defeated. They weren't going to stand by and let the tradition of the blood sports be ruined by one wolf. No matter who it was, even a slave, if a wolf defeated another, then the victory, not the loser, did the execution. Things weren't going to change now, and they would do it again only so it didn't change, if Princess and Runt defeated another wolf. "If" being the key word, in the Alpha wolves' minds.

"I hope it rains down on those scumbags again," whispered Princess, "and it gets them all sick, and wet before they can get in their caves. That would ruin their 'tradition' of the blood sports! They are stupid, but they wouldn't fight when they are sick."

"Maybe they would," said Runt, in a whisper, too. "Like you said, dear, they are Hell-bent on making us suffer. They would at least try even if they are sick. I mean, too sick that common sense would normally tell someone that they _shouldn't_ fight. But, it seems, that these wolves don't have a lick of common sense. All they think about is murder and mating. Nothing else. They'd murder even if they are puking up everything they eat!"

"Keep your voice low, Runt," cautioned Princess. "You don't want them coming here and bothering us about talking. More importantly, we wouldn't know it until they are in the cave, like when King and Queen found out we mated, and then we would be in worse trouble for trying to dig our way out. I don't think there would be a damn thing to stop them from killing us if they find out we are trying to escape.

"There would be no excuses, either," she continued. "Like when I was on top of you, how could we explain ourselves if they see us digging into a tunnel that goes under our cave? We wouldn't! We'd be more dead than that wolf you and those two killed." She sighed. "Speaking of him, thank you for saving my life, Runt. I owe you for that..."

"No, you don't," said Runt. "How could I let my mate die, when we both know you are carrying my pups? Princess, I want you to know that I would die for you, even if it means that I never get to see our pups."

"Runt...I don't want to lose you," cried Princess, shedding tears because of her mate's statement. "I would die on the inside if you didn't escape with me. I want both of us to get out of this place, this Hellhole. You need to get back to Jasper for your family's sake. I am sure that they are hysterical without you. And they would be happy to know that you will be a father when spring comes around."

"Princess, I would do anything for your chances of survival, even if it makes my own next to zero," he added. "You are too important to me to lose. The life growing in your belly is why you _can't_ die."

"That life growing in my belly is why you _can't_ die, Runt," she used his own words as a counter argument.

Runt didn't know what to say about that. It took his mate using his own words against him to make him see that they both had to make it out of here. This realization made Runt feel bad about even saying it, and he apologized for even bringing it up, knowing that Princess was already stressed out.

"Don't apologize now, just dug," spat Princess. "You can apologize when _we_ are safe in Jasper."

Immediately, Princess and Runt started digging again, and faster than before. They heard the voices and footsteps of rogues several yards from their cave. They were all females, and they were complaining about King's orders. Apparently King, and Queen, were ordering the females around worse than the males when it came to the clean-up of the debris from the storm.

Princess and Runt could hear King shouting about how all the Alphas were slackers and would be here all day instead of competing in or watching the blood sports. The couple was sure that it really hurt the Alpha rogues when Queen shouted that she's "seen Omega slaves work harder eating scraps of caribou flesh off of bones" than they were working at cleaning up the debris. They laughed as they pictured the rogues reactions, knowing how much they hated hearing that an Omega did such an easy task better than they could pick up pieces of wood and rock fragments.

"Oh, that stung their pride!" Princess laughed quietly. They found it so funny that it distracted her and Runt from digging for a few seconds.

And they must not have been very efficient at cleaning up the debris. It was an hour since they had been worried about King and Queen finding out that they were trying to escape and no one had come within five yards of the cave yet. They were two-thirds of the way through the pile of dirt, not that they knew that, but they could smell air that was normal for a cave through dirt. That made them know they were getting closer, and gave them motivation to keep on digging at the same pace, even if their paws felt like they were about to fall off at any moment.

Within half an hour, Runt saw something that gave him hope, and he let Princess know it.

"Princess!" he whispered excitedly. "I see a small amount of light through the dirt! Keep digging! We're almost free!"

"Yes!" yelped Princess, forgetting to whisper.

Princess and Runt went into a frenzied digging.

* * *

"Well, well," said King, loudly. "These Alphas are finally working like Alphas should! I was beginning to think we would have to make some of them into Betas and Omegas!"

That statement made the Alphas work so much harder.

Queen laughed at their reaction, and then she remembered something they had all but forgotten about because of the hurricane-like storm.

"I wonder what our whore of a daughter and her wolf-toy Runt are doing after that storm," said Queen, with an odd look on her face, as she thought about what they could be doing. "She's probably putting things in her muzzle that shouldn't be in there. I mean, she already went and got herself pregnant with a wolf who was born an Omega. At least she was born an Alpha!"

"I would not be surprised at all," said King. "To think we raised Princess better than what she turned into. She's nothing more than a wolf who seems to enjoy killing almost defenseless wolves and being a former Alpha who enjoys sleeping with Omegas."

"You get what I mean now? I was not exaggerating when I called our daughter a whore."

"Yes, but she don't sleep with everything that walks. We know that from her hate of about every wolf in the pack."

"That doesn't change my opinion." Queen spat with disgust on the ground. "Can we talk about something else before I vomit all over you?"

"GET BACK TO WORK!" King suddenly roared, and a few Alphas started gathering up sticks and rocks in their muzzles. "Good to know those females still put things in their mouths and can be useful. All they do is-"

"King..." Queen eyed her mate with anger.

King coughed and changed the subject again. He knew how his mate didn't like talking about such things, or even taking part in them. And Queen was glad they only mated once. They didn't want to have another daughter like Princess. Queen secretly believed that King was why Princess acted the way she did, and King secretly thought the same about Queen.

"Really, though, Princess and that runt of a wolf are probably just sleep or talking or something," said King after a few minutes of watching the Alphas work. "What else can they do besides sleep and talk that won't get them in trouble?"

"Now if these lazy Alphas would just get the arena cleaned up and the we could actually get on with the blood sports," she muttered. "I've see you wolves mate faster than you WORK!" Queen suddenly shouted at them. "Take that effort you put into your mating and PUT IT INTO YOUR WORK!" she screamed. "I can make it so you can't mate again very easily! Do not forgot how my daughter was victorious in her first time in the blood sports in years! I'll do that to all of you! And then I'll sew the wound shut using pine needles and vines!"

Queen's voice carried and there was not a rouge wolf, male or female, who did not scatter from the others to show that they were working hard still. But it was true, they were slacking off with their work.

"Can we go do something else than scream at these lower ranking Alphas all day?" Queen complained. "I'm going to lose my damned voice before we grow old. And these lazies, and my daughter, are making me feel older every day."

"Yes," said King, truly agreeing with his mate. "We'll go see what our daughter and Runt are doing since you brought it up."

* * *

The ground broke through half an hour after Runt first saw that light source through a tiny hole in the dirt. The dirt flew pack in their faces, provoking Princess and Runt to close their eyes and cough.

"We're free! We're free!" Princess joyously whispered.

"Wait, wait," gasped Runt, as his mate went into the tunnel.

Princess looked back around her butt, moving her bushy tail out of the way. "What?"

"I smell King and Queen!" he yelped. "Get out of there!"

"What about the dirt?!" Princess was starting to panic

"Just leave it," Runt instructed her in a whisper. "I doubt they'll be able to notice it."

"Get out from behind the rock!" they heard Queen command. Princess and Runt shook all the dirt out of their fur that would have gave them away, and then they peaked over the boulder.

"What is with you two and sleeping behind rocks?" asked King.

"What?" Princess was trying to act and sound like nothing was going on, but she was not doing very well. "We can't sleep behind a rock?"

"Then you don't care if we go back there?" asked Queen.

"Why?"

"If you were just sleeping, then it don't matter to you two any," she explained.

"GET OUT!" roared King, and the two Omegas dashed out of from behind the rock. Mentally, they cursed themselves for not darting into the tunnel and running for their lives instead.

The two Alpha wolves went behind the boulder and their jaws hit the floor.

"What is the meaning of this?!" King and Queen gasped in unison.

"It looks like they were digging their way out of here!" shouted King.

"Come on in, Alphas," Queen yelled, and then five oversized rogues came into the cave. They immediately began snarling at Princess and Runt, who did the same in response.

King and Queen came out from behind the boulder and let the five wolves who ranked below them know what they found.

"They seem to have spent the past few hours digging their way through a part of the cave floor that is severely eroded," said Queen. "They seemed to have been able to escape, but, thankfully, we found them out before they could even get in the tunnel!"

"What do you want us to do with them?" the only female present asked.

"Use your imagination," said King. "We've got to go instruct the others with the clean up." And then he left his daughter's cave with Queen.

"Well, well," the same female said. "You won't have the chance to be this runt's whore again. You've done it now and you'll wish you didn't even spit in the direction of that soil!"

Princess and Runt said nothing, and they ran back behind the boulder. Two of the rogues ran around each side of the boulder, and one of the ran up it. She looked down at the two Omegas, snarling, as the other four closed in on then.

"Get in the tunnel!" screamed Runt, and he shoved Princess into the freshly dug escape route. Princess did not expect to fall through a hole in the tunnel and find herself falling into a cave. She landed in the water.

The six wolves in the cave heard the splash and just stared down into the opening.

The rogues were just as shocked as Runt. They'd never know there was a cavern underneath Banff. Runt only looked in the tunnel out of concern for Princess. He did not see her anywhere in the water.

The five rogues awe was short-lived. Their attention was back on Runt again immediately. Runt looked back to see the female lunging at him off the boulder.

* * *

Princess surfaced as this was going on so high above her. The first thing she noticed was that Runt had not come with her.

Then she heard bloodcurdling screams of a male wolf coming from the small cave above her. Princess saw a gray wolf struggle with five other wolves. They were all fighting, biting and clawing at each other, apparently trying to get at Runt. The gray wolf whom Princess thought was Runt was dragged away.

What took place next was horrifying for Princess. There was one last scream that echoed all the way from the cave and through this tunnel into the cavern. Next came a flow of blood down the incline of the tunnel through the space which Princess fell. It got all over Princess.

Princess started wailing. "RUNT! RUNT! RUUUUNNNNNTTTT!" she screamed at the top of her longs. Her voice was so much louder in this cave. "No, RUNT!"

With no other option left that she knew of−she couldn't get back up in the cave. But what was the point to even try? Runt was dead! Princess couldn't deny that unpleasant truth that made her feel dead inside, as much as she wanted to.

With the blood that she was sure was Runt's trailing behind her body as she swam through this cave lake, Princess was wailing and crying over the loss of her mate, who had not been given a chance to escape from their cave before he was slaughtered.

Princess made it to the shoreline at the other side of this cave lake, where there was an exit. She just ran up that incline toward a small opening the top of it. It was her way out of the cave, which the sunlight was shining through. It was not bright. That was a shock, that the sun was shining, when Princess popped through the opening that was just big enough for her to fit through, and she saw that it was raining. This sudden rainstorm only made Princess feel so much worse about the death of Runt that was so likely she couldn't even assume it was one of the rogues. She saw a gray wolf being torn up by the rogues, it seemed, and she did not recall seeing a gray rogue. And then those bloodcurdling screams! They sounded _just like Runt_!

Still wailing and howling mournfully at the top of her lungs, Princess took off running, having completely forgot that her paws were sore from all that digging she did. Princess ran as fast as she could in the direction of Jasper Park. Princess was all alone with Runt gone, and she was shivering because of the rain. It was as cold as ice. Princess shed tears for Runt in addition to her howling as she ran toward Jasper, feeling dead on the inside. Princess was left with a broken heart, a broken spirit, knowing Runt's fate.


	24. Princess's Return to Jasper

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Princess's Return to Jasper**

It was a rainy day in Jasper, midday after the hurricane-like. The rain was light, so there were some wolves out and about now. It was so light of a rain that it wouldn't be possible for any of the older wolves to fall ill. The wolf pups were a different story, so they had to stay in their caves, as much as that upset them.

While more than double the number of Beta wolves were guarding the border of Jasper and Banff−after the attack of thirty rogues, when only half that many Jasper wolves stood in their way−had been there for some time, Kate and her family, among others, were just coming out of their individual caves. They all quickly gathered inside of Kate's cave, even Magril. Magril was no longer wearing the cast that protected her once broken leg, which had come as a result of an accident during The Great Wolf Games that happened a few weeks ago. Of course, Magril still had to be careful with her leg for several more weeks or she could end it breaking it again.

There was one thought, that was exactly the same, on the minds of every member of Kate's large family. They were all thinking about the chances that Princess and Runt had at surviving in the hellhole known as Banff. The rogues were like the demons of that hellhole and the Jasper wolves felt that King was the worst of all those evil wolves. And they felt that Queen was the mistress of all those demonic wolves.

"Are the weather conditions good enough to send out a rescue team to Banff, to finally save Princess and Runt?" asked Mica, who was−being the mate of Stinky−the little sister-in-law of Runt.

"If it continues raining like it is now or if it gets better," said Winston, "then Kate will send the largest rescue team possible without putting us here in danger. This will be soon." Winston looked at his oldest daughter, Kate, who seemed to be in distress. Everyone noticed this.

"Kate?" asked Garth quietly. "Is something on your mind?" He tried to sound as sincere as possibly when he asked this question.

"Yes," the Alpha female said. "I have been almost endlessly plagued by bad dreams about Princess and Runt. You all know about the nightmare I had about Runt losing an eye to King." They all nodded, even though none of them liked where this was going. "My dreams−_nightmares_−have been getting worse with each day, and with each one. Each nightmare is more dark and more disturbing than each one before it."

"You had another nightmare, mother?" asked Stinky.

"Yes..." Kate broke down into tears. Her pups, Claudette and Stinky, their mates Fleet and Mica, plus Magril and Liam, all gathered around the wolf who they called either their mother or their mother-in-law, to comfort her.

"What happened?" asked Fleet, carefully.

"Ru-Runt died in my latest nightmare" Everyone gasped. "H-he died so Princess could escape Banff..."

Tony's voice shook as he spoke. "I don't know how your nightmares could get any worse..."

"We must hope that only half of your latest nightmare is true," said Humphrey. The rest stared at him. "That our son didn't die for Princess but he escaped with her instead."

"Your mate is right, daughter," said Eve. "We must be as optimistic as we can. I know that we can't ignore the fact that Runt got the name he has because he is the runt of your litter, Kate and Humphrey, but he is a strong wolf regardless of being a runt. It even seems that he's no longer a runt now that he is older. I'll be honest. If I was Princess, I never would have seen anything but pure strength, physical and mental, in Runt−which I do anyway."

"And Princess is an even strong wolf," said Claudette. "We know that she can take care of herself, and she won't let any of the rogues lay a claw on Runt."

Kate looked to the ground, specifically her paws. She was clicking her claws on the floor of her cave. "I just wish we know how they were doing," she cried.

They heard a voice; it was the mournful voice of a male voice. "You can find out for yourselves." The family spun around. They saw it was Scar who said this.

"What on Earth do you mean?" asked Stinky.

"Just follow me to Candy's cave," pressed Scar. "I don't want to make the bad news any worse than it already is...and will be for all of you."

* * *

"Princess!" gasped Kate, when she saw that the brown wolf was alone. "Where is Runt?!" She was frantic, and it was easy to understand why.

Princess was a worrying sight. There were signs of dry blood in her fur, specifically in scent, despite the rain that was the main reason for her mane being a mess and stick up in several directions. There were twigs and other debris in between the individual hairs of her mane. Princess's eyes were bloodshot, a sign that she did not have much sleep. Her fur coat was an unkempt mess from her head to her tail, from her breast to her paws.

"What happened to you?" asked Stinky, who had his head low to the ground. He was worried about his little brother, considering that Runt was not with Princess, when he was taken by the rogues together with her.

"And where is Runt?" asked Humphrey.

"WHERE IS MY SON?!" screamed Kate.

In tears, Princess looked down at her big paws, feeling like she was a failure because of the news she was about to give this family about their second youngest member. Princess couldn't bring herself to look at any of them, especially Kate and Humphrey, the parents of Runt.

"I-I must tell you the good news first," whimpered Princess. "The bad news will kill you all on the inside."

"W-what is the good news?" stuttered Claudette.

"I am pregnant with the puppies of Runt," she said, much to the surprise of all the wolves who were present. "We mated in Banff."

This next question hurt them all more. Magril asked it. "What is the ...bad news?"

Princess chocked up, but she was able to spit out the words eventually.

The fives words that Princess said to Kate and all of her family members, and Claws and Scar, broke their hearts and shattered their spirits.

"Runt's dead!" she cried. "I'm sorry, Kate..." And then she closed her eyes in guilt, as tears flowed from Princess's eyes, and the eyes of all the other wolves.


	25. The Fall of an Alpha Wolf

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**The Fall of an Alpha Wolf**

There was a long, drawn-out and mournful howl let out by Kate as she ran out of Candy's cave, with all the others running after her, not knowing what she would do. The rest of Kate's family was too stunned by Princess's news to howl like Kate was when they stopped several feet from the cave.

Kate's howl was piercing and it drew the attention of all the wolves in the area, even the pups who could leave their caves. (It had stopped raining now, so the parents weren't worried about their pups getting sick.)

The wolves who heard Kate's howl whispered amongst each other as the approached the scene, wondering what was doing on that could make the dominant wolf of the pack howl like. They were wondering what could make the entire dominant family of the combined Eastern and Western Packs quiet like this, excluding Kate and Princess.

Some of them saw that Princess was here in Jasper again, but they also noticed that Runt was not with her. This spread to all the other wolves within minutes. Just that Princess reeked with the odor of blood−they could not tell whose blood, as such scents had been washed away by rain hours ago−and that Runt was not here, made they more concerned than before they noticed this.

The Beta wolf whose name was Claws and the Omega wolf whose name was Candy−who recently went through the training an Alpha received, did not know what was going on because she hadn't been in her cave to hear what Princess revealed about Runt− agreed to approach the Alpha family together. Scar, even though he already knew what was wrong, and Mooch, an Omega, stayed behind.

Simply because Candy had a more calm, and soothing, voice than Claws−who had a raspy and more neutral voice; Claws never sounded calm or angry when she was calm−the two females felt that it was better if only Candy spoke to Kate and her family members.

Candy went on toward Kate even though Claws stopped half a foot behind Candy. Candy stopped three inches away from Kate', who was wailing with psychological agony.

"What...what happened, Kate?" asked Candy.

Because she had just let herself fall to the ground without resisting it, Kate looked up at Candy with extreme grief in her green eyes. "Runt!" she wailed. "Oh, Runt! Runt! No!"

"What happened to Runt?"

Kate stood up suddenly and screamed. "THEY KILLED MY SON! THE ROGUES KILLED RUNT!"

From every wolf who heard this, from every wolf who didn't know this already, there was a simultaneous gasp. The lower-ranking Alphas, the Betas and the Omegas were all shocked.

"What?!" gasped Candy and Claws.

"Let's take the war to the rogues!" Scar roared before anyone could speak, and his words provoked a frenzy of violent words.

"They will learn what true brutality is!" shouted Hutch.

"We'll kill them ALL!" It was Candu who roared these four words.

"QUIET!" roared Eve, and everyone fell silent. They recognized her voice easily and it frightened them all. There wasn't a wolf in Jasper who didn't know how violent of a wolf Eve could be. "Do you wolves have no respect? We have just learned that a young family member is DEAD and all you fools give a damn about is war and revenge! Would your feelings change if it was your son or grandson who was killed by the rogues, rather than Kate's!?"  
There was only silence. All of the wolves who had said something about attacking Banff looked to the ground, at their paws, feeling guilty.

"You selfish bastards!" It was not just what was screamed that was shocking but also who screamed these words that was most shocking. It was _Lilly_ who screamed them. "You low-ranking wolves only care about vengeance and your own families! You don't seem to really care that my nephew, Kate's son−YOUR ALPHA FEMALE!− None of you other than Candy, Claws, Salty, Shakey, Mooch and Reba and Janice, and those who didn't say anything, are ANY BETTER THAN THE ROGUES WHO KILLED RUNT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What do you know, Omega?" shouted an Eastern Alpha. "You are an ignorant Omega bitch!" "Bitch" was another, more rude, word for a female dog. "What does an Omega she-wolf know?"

"I know how to mutilate you!" retorted Lilly.

For Kate, the words of that Eastern wolf were fighting words. She was not an Alpha female who was opposed to violence. _Not at all_, she thought.

"How dare you talk to my sister like that?" roared Kate. "I should have you exiled to Banff so you can learn what Hell Princess and my son went through!"

"I wish you were dead-" said Humphrey.

"-and in Hell!" added Stinky, snarling.

"Hell is too good a place for a heartless wolf like him," muttered Claudette.

The Eastern Wolf was beginning to back away slowly, whimpering.

"Where is Princess?" Magril piped up suddenly.

There was a scream of terror that was just as sudden as Magril's words. The scream was the result of Princess attacking and tackling the Eastern Alpha whom she believed was insulting a deceased Runt and all of his family. She had pinned him to the ground, with no resistance from him. He wasn't strong enough to force a wolf like Princess off of him, no matter how much he tried to.

"Have you got no heart beating in your chest?" Princess threateningly snapped her jaws at him, and he screamed again. "You have no respect for the deceased and his family! Runt suffered unimaginably when he died! And you still think Omegas are worthless! If you want to think that, GO TO BANFF! I should kill you for what you said to Lilly!"

"Runt and Lilly are Omegas, and yet they outrank you, being relatives of the Alpha male and the Alpha female−my parents!" shouted Stinky. "How dare you insult Lilly?! And how dare you insult my little brother who lost his life?! I ought to join Princess in executing you!"

Princess and Stinky both looked at Kate, looking at her anxiously, in the heat of the moment. "Well, mother?"

Kate did not have to think about it for long. She didn't need to her, she was so angered by this. "Tell him that he can kiss his throat goodbye," she said, and then watched Princess tear out the Alpha's throat. Princess spat the bone out because she lacked the cannibalistic tendencies of her relatives in Banff.

Claws, who felt as if she was responsible about what this Eastern wolf, whom she knew very well, wanted to change the subject before things got much worse than they already did.

"What do we do now, about the rogues that could be coming here?" she asked.

Princess answered before Kate could, still steaming about those insulting words uttered by the Eastern Alpha wolf. She was trying not to let her anger cloud her judgment.

"Kate, I don't mean to be disrespectful by interrupting you, but you must be warned that King is possibly on his way to Jasper with an army of rogues, as all this is going on. We can't afford to waste any more time arguing over things. It could cost more wolves than just Runt their lives if we waste too much time. For years after leaving Jasper, even up to now, King planned to invade Jasper so he could conquer the park and make us follow the same regime in Banff. That Alphas are the only pure wolves and all others should be slaves or killed off so only Alpha pups are born. I would not be shocked, at all, if he is on his way right now."

"What do you suggest?" asked Kate, still weeping. "I don't know what to do anymore!"

"Well, our reinforcements from the Northern and Southern packs are still here," said the female wolf, who still had no rank in her new pack. "All of us wolves who can fight will wait at the border of Banff, out of sight behind the overlying rock formations and borders. The strategy is simple. We'll strike the _first_ blow when the first rogues come around the behind. They won't know what him them!"

"That is a simply but good strategy, yes," said Winston, "but, Princess, do you know when the last time we fought the rogues?"

"Two years ago," said Princess.

"Yes. Two years ago. That is the last time we had _any_ conflict with any rival pack because there are no other rivals of us."

"The point is," said Kate, "that we're out of practice. Claudette and Stinky were only puppies the last time we trained for a battle."

"Then we will train to counteract the rogues' tactics," said Melissa, a former Alpha wolf who joined the Jasper wolves when she finally had a chance to get out of Banff and stay out. "Princess and I know the rouges tactics by heart, and they are so foolish that they've never thought about changing them. They've remained the same for as long as they've been in Banff."

Humphrey looked at Princess, then Melissa. "How long do you think it will be until the rogues arrive?"

"It would have took me−just a lone wolf−half a day to reach Jasper if it wasn't for that storm that delayed my arrival an entire day. If there isn't a storm when they leave, if they haven't already, it will take all of them more than a day-and-a-half to get to Jasper." Princess sighed. "We we are lucky, we will be well-trained enough to defeat them without any casualties on our side."

"There is only one way we can defeat the rogues for good," said Melissa. "You all know what us to be done, no matter the cost."

"Yes." Kate nodded. "We have to be sure that King and Queen are killed. They will not return to Jasper if the smartest and strongest wolves that pack knows are killed. How could they without any leadership? They would not accomplish anything."

"I'll kill them myself," snarled Princess.

"You let me get one of them," said Stinky. "I want to send one of them to Hell myself for what they did to Runt."

Kate wiped away tears, then said, "Now, if you excuse me. I need to do something that will benefit us all."

"What is that?" asked Claudette.

"One of us has to scout the area above the border of Jasper and Banff," her mother explained. "None of the Betas are there now, but neither are the rogues. I can let you know the basic geography of the area, and how many wolves can hide on that ledge behind the rocks without being noticed."

"Kate..." said Mica.

"No, Mica. I need to do this. I'm the fastest wolf in Jasper. I can get there, get the scouting down, and get back within half an hour. There is no reason to worry about me being in danger when the rogues are miles south of here. I'll be faster if I go alone. None of you need to worry about me."

"Be careful mother," Claudette and Stinky said in unison, as Kate headed south toward the border of the two parks.

* * *

Even though she knew that there were no rogues here, and that there wouldn't be for almost two days, at the most, Kate was still extremely nervous as she made her way toward the border of Jasper and Banff.

Of course, she would be a little more safe up here on this overhanging cliff if the rogues were arriving in this moment. It would give the Alpha female time to flee to the north and warn her own army of the danger.

Immediately, for her own safety, and to not waste any more time than was necessary, Kate began running all over the overhang to get an estimate of how many wolves could hide up here. Being a smart wolf, it didn't take Kate very long to get this done.

Kate was on her way back down the side of the hill, the only way to get back to the Western Territory, when she got a whiff of a single wolf. It was a male wolf who reeked of dry blood; he had the odor of a wolf who never took a bath and constantly killed. The odor of whoever this wolf was immediately told Kate that it was a rogue, even though she didn't know what rogue it was. That didn't matter at all. One rogue wolf meant more could be in hiding or on their way. This one could be a scout to see if it was going to be easy to get into Jasper Park.

No matter who the rogue was, his presence was making Kate act defensively. Kate's hackles were raised; so were her average-sized ears. Hoping that her actions would drive off this hopefully lone rogue, Kate was snarling, showing her gums and teeth. Of course, even though she appeared to be showing no fear, Kate was actually more scared than she had ever been. And it was easy to understand why. She was alone with a rogue, and there could possibly be an entire army of them. Kate could handle one or two rogues, but if there was too many, she would not last. An army of rogues was definitely something a single wolf couldn't even begin to hope to stand a chance against, escaping or fighting.

Just as Kate made the best decision for herself and for her pack−to leave the area before any danger showed up, even if it was a danger she could handle−a rogue came into view. Kate recognized this large wolf immediately. He was the one who had ordered Runt to be taken from his family when her youngest son was only a pup. The one who was the Alpha male of the wolves from Banff. The one who murdered her youngest son!

_And he's alone..._

The evil thoughts about King were swarming around in Kate's brain by an angry hive of hornets were endless. She was thinking of so many ways to end his life in ways that would make King suffer as much as she was sure Runt had suffered when he died.

Alone, no wolf like King could stand a chance against a wolf like Kate. Sure, the brutal Alpha male was much larger than Kate, but he was nowhere near as smart, brave or as strong as she was. Kate could easily overpower and kill King, and then get away before his reinforcements could save him. She would make Queen a widow and make any pups other than Princess they have fatherless. Those pups would be better off as orphans than having two wolves like King and his mate Queen as parents. Those didn't even deserve to be parents! No murderers deserved to be parents, and no pups deserved to have parents who were murderers.

"KING!" roared King.

"What's the matter, Kate?" the Alpha male of Banff mocked her. "You learned about your son's fate? You will share his fate very soon."

"Damn you!"

"Touchy, aren't you?"

"If you had a son who you loved, King, what would you do if he was taken from you so suddenly?!" she barked at him. "Would you not be mourning him?"

"If I truly loved him, he wouldn't be like Princess," King went on. "And I would be upset if he died. But you really think you are going to make me feel bad for you just because your son was torn to pieces by five wolves? No. I don't give a damn what happened to your son. He and my daughter shouldn't have mated and then tried to escape. Maybe he would still be alive if he had been smarter!"

Kate's eyes grew large. These were fighting words. No one disrespected her late son like this! And she let him know it.

"You will die for what you did to him! And what you've said about him!"

"I didn't kill him," said King. "Five of my Alphas accomplished the task under my orders."

"You still killed him!" Kate screamed, and then lunged on to King's back. She took a chunk of flesh out of his side before he tossed her off, right into a boulder.

Kate was running on pure adrenaline. She jumped up, not feeling any pain from being thrown into a boulder. She was back on King in an instant, now digging her claws into his neck. She cursed when she realized that she didn't hit his jugular vein. That would have ended King's life, and he'd suffered first. Bleeding out was the best way Kate could make this bastard suffer on her own. She wanted to see him torn to shreds, but a single wolf, even one like Kate, couldn't accomplish that. Kate was just plain out determined to see him die for what happened to Runt.

"Face it, Kate," said King, throwing the female off his back again. "You will be the one to die, not me. Your biting does not do anything that will kill me. I have the best healers in all of Canada in my pack."

"They won't be able to heal you if I tear out your throat or stomach!"

"I should be the one saying that about you..." And then King immediately went for Kate's soft underside, only to miss entirely.

Kate tackled King just after his failed attack, and pinned him to the ground. She had her razor-like teeth inches from his throat, ready to slice his jugular vein open with her two front teeth that looked like fangs. She was drooling on this scummy excuse of a wolf's throat anxiously as she slowly moved closer. Kate was moving her jaws closer to King's throat so slowly because wanted him to be in fear before he died, if a wolf like this could even feel an emotion like feel. King old felt hate, it seemed.

Kate was only an inch, literally, from tearing a gash open in King's throat, when she decided she had done enough waiting. She yelped when she did not have a chance to tear King's throat open, when several rogues tackled her. The fray of five wolves, Kate and four rogues, was blood. They had the advantage over Kate, and were clawing and biting into her. Kate's blood was spraying all over them and the ground as they tussled.

Kate was trying as best she could to defend herself, but five rogues was too much for her, and her body eventually gave up on itself. She just dropped out of the fray, and found herself pinned down by one rogue holding down each of her limbs quickly. King was over her in a second, with his mate, wickedly laughing at her.

She was spitting and cursing at King and the four rogues, even though she was held down. Kate was fighting to free herself from them.

"Any last words?" King mocked her, yet again.

"You...can...go...burn...in...Hell!" Kate said slowly.

"You can tell me what Hell is like when you haunt my dreams." King spit on Kate, who started screaming at him. He laughed, then gave the four wolves orders to keep her even more still.

King was much quicker about it Kate had been−she would have killed him if she hadn't wasted so much time. King had his teeth an inch from Kate's throat much faster than Kate had from his throat only minutes earlier.

"You...are...dead..." were the last words Kate heard King utter before the world went black for her. Kate didn't feel any pain when her jugular vein was torn open, her life ended that fast.


	26. An Unexpected Survivor

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**An Unexpected Survivor**

It was an hour after Kate left the area outside of Candy's cave, which was half an hour later than she said that she'd be back here. The wolves there, who were mostly relatives of Kate, were beginning to worry.

"I think it is time that a few of us Betas went to see what is going on," snarled Claws.

"I'm going with you," Princess volunteered. "And there's six wolves I want to come with us: Claudette, Stinky, Lilly, Fleet, Magril and Mica."

"Is it wise to bring younger relatives of Kate?" Scar asked out of concern for Kate's family members. "We don't know what we'll find there."

"If something bad has happened to Kate, would any of you want to be the one who has to tell her children and her sister?"

"No," said Scar, shaking his head. "You're right, Princess. They can go with us, I but I want to you, Lilly, and you pups to be ready for the worst, even if nothing does happen in the end."

* * *

The thirty-five Betas, plus Princess, Lilly and all of the adolescent wolves, made it to where they knew Kate had gone.

They all froze in their tracks when they came across Kate's lifeless body. The youngest females screamed in terror and buried themselves in the arms of the first older wolf they found. Everyone started crying quickly.

"Kate...dead?" wept Claws. "WHO DID THIS?!" she roared suddenly.

Princess sniffed Kate's body. Not all of the scents belonged to just random rogues, and not all of the blood was Kate's, either. She picked up the scent of King on Kate's body, as well as the scent of his blood.

Princess went insane. "King did this to her!" She was referring to how Kate's jugular vein was slashed. "He killed her while four other rogues held her down by the limbs!"

Everyone was frozen, now more than they had been before, they were so shocked by this gruesome discovery. Not one of them, or anyone in Jasper, would have ever thought that Kate would die young, or that her death would be as the result of a murder.

Soon, the wolves' instinct took over and all forty-two of them howled to mourn Kate.

The wolves stopped howling suddenly two minutes later when they picked up a familiar yet difficult to recognize scent. It was the scent of a wolf. Expecting a rogue who was alone, the Jasper wolves all went from mournful postures to defensive ones. Snarling and snapping their jaws, and clicking their claws on the ground, they waited for whoever it was to come into view.

And he did. A light gray wolf came into view, out from behind one of the many rocks and boulders up on this rock that overhung the border of Jasper and Banff. Who this wolf was, well, it was just as shocking to learn that he was alive, as learning Kate was dead. The scars and the leaf eye patch did nothing to disguise who he was. It was Runt! None of them had to ask why he was wearing that leaf eye patch. Princess had already explained that King clawed one of Runt's eyes out. Stinky was the only wolf who didn't know this; they thought he was there when Princess explained it. But Stinky did not care now. His little brother was alive!

Obviously, they still had Kate's death on their minds as the forty-two wolves surrounded Runt.

"How on Earth did you survive what happened to you in Banff?!" cried Princess. "I saw your blood...it flowed into the cave. I had your blood all over me!"

"It wasn't my blood that you saw," said Runt. "I killed all five of those rogues who attacked us. I did it when I blacked out after you fell into the cave, and I didn't even realize what I was doing until they were all dead. It started with just one and then the rest of them died. When I went through the tunnel and fell into the cave, you weren't there. But what happened to me isn't that important right now..." He looked to the body of his mother, who would never know that her youngest son was actually alive.

Runt, Claudette and Stinky, only the three of them, laid down over the body of their late mother. Runt didn't expect, just as soon as he returned to Jasper, to learn that his mother had been killed by King, most likely. Lilly, the little sister of Kate, and their aunt, laid down with the three siblings, her niece and her two nephews. Runt being alive after everyone thought he was dead did very little to make them feel any better about Kate's life having been taken from her. That wasn't to say they weren't happen about Runt being alive. They were, yes, but Kate's death overshadowed any good news that could be throw at them now.

Runt lifted up the right of his lifeless mother, and he began whispering in it. His voice and his words were mournful. "I'm sorry, mother, that I couldn't do anything to save you..." He stopped speaking for an entire minute. Nobody did. "I love you..." he added after that minute went by.

The youngest of them noticed that his mother's eyes were still open just after he said "I love you" to her. Runt gently closed Kate's eyes with his from left paw. None of them got up from Kate's body. They couldn't bring themselves to do that, no matter how much they tried, no matter how much the others wanted them to get up. Runt, Lilly, Claudette and Stinky were shedding tears as they buried their muzzles in the fur of Kate.

"I'm sorry about Kate," said Claws, not wanting to sound like she wasn't sympathetic. "I really am, but we must get back to Jasper to warn the rest of the wolves about the danger. We know the rogues are in Jasper. And we'll have to let them know about Runt being alive...and about what happened to Kate..."

"We can't leave my mother's body here!" screamed Claudette.

"The rogues will destroy her body!" cried Stinky.

"All of you," Princess ordered ten of the Betas, "carry Kate's body back to Jasper."

* * *

"KATE!" Eve screamed when she saw the body of her daughter being laid down gently by the Betas who carried her back to Jasper.

"Who did this to her?" asked Humphrey, loudly; Garth, Winston, Eve and Tony were on either side of him.

Lilly was snarling. "King!"

"Is there any good news?" asked Winston, trying not to show any tears. "Any at all?"

"Just me," Runt said sadly as he came out of the crowd, into view of those who didn't know that he was alive.

"Runt!" cried Eve. "How did you survive? Princess told us what happened when she escaped Banff."

Runt explained how he survived those five rogues, and how he killed them.

"If only mother was as lucky..." cried Claudette. It wasn't Fleet, but Stinky, who was holding his weeping sister. Fleet was trying to keep Magril, his little sister, calm, and Garth was attempting the same with Mica.

Princess led the adults and the rest who weren't busy comforting someone a short distance away to speak with them about the situation.

"What are we going to do?" asked Tony. "Kate is dead! Who else knows exactly what she was planning to do to defeat the rogues, in detail?"

"I do," said Princess, suddenly. "Kate told me everything she was planning before her death. The first thing that we need to do is evacuate all the young, weaker and elderly wolves. Lilly," she said when she turned to Kate's sister, "you and Magril need to round them up and get them all to the Northern Territory."

"I'm not going anywhere now. Mica agreed to go instead of me," said Lilly, through tears. "King murdered my sister. I will find him and murder him! I want to take him on myself, if I must kill half of his army first!"

I understand, Lilly, but-"

"No! You are insane if you think I will leave now that my sister has been killed! Nothing you say or do will change what I want to do. My mind is set."

"You can fight with us." Runt made the decision for his mate. He knew what Lilly was feeling. "Princess, dear, you would do the same thing if you had an older sister, and she was killed by King, wouldn't you?"

"Of course-"

"They why are you say that I shouldn't fight to avenge my sister?" Lilly snapped. "It's not any different!"

"Enough of this!" shouted Eve. "Do you young ones want those who are supposed to be evacuated from our territory to be caught in the middle of an all out war?"

"No," said Stinky. "Magril, Mica, you lead them away and find the rest as you head north. There are no wolves who live this far south other than Candy, Salty and Mooch." Magril and Stink's mate took off with the wolves who were supposed be evacuated, of those who had been here waiting for news from Kate.

As he watched Mica head north, Stinky was worried that he would never seen his pregnant mate again, because of the war that was to come soon. He was afraid that he would die before he could see her again, before she had their puppies. Stinky could tell that she was pregnant from her, that was how large Mica's belly was. He wanted to go with her so much, but yet he wanted to see here so he could avenger his murdered mother.

Stinky made his decision: he would stay and fight!

"Lilly, do you know anything about fight? We may not have long before an all-out war takes place." Princess was staring at Lilly.

"Yes, I do," said Lilly. "I trained when you and Runt were still in Banff. Not many knew about it. Only Kate and Garth knew because they are the wolves who trained me. I will work with you and Runt to kill King and Queen."

"You let me at Queen," said Runt. "She did things to Princess that made her suffer and almost bleed out. I want to fight her one-on-one."

"You will do no such thing!" barked Princess. "I thought I lost you once, and now that I know you're alive, and we are together again, I'll be damned if I lose you again!"

"Queen isn't important, Runt," snapped Claudette. "She's not the one who killed out mother. Kind did! I want him dead, FIRST!" she screamed.


	27. The Battle for Jasper Park Begins

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**The Battle for Jasper Park Begins**

Two days later, after Kate's funeral took place, the rogues arrived at the border of Jasper and Banff. They showed up half a day later than the Jasper wolves expected, not that any of them were complaining. It gave them an extra eight hours of training for the war to come, and an extra four hours of rest, one of which was spent hiding behind these boulders at the top of the rock overhang that was over the border of the two parks.

"Runt," whispered Stinky, who couldn't hold in his curiosity anymore. "Why are you wearing an eye patch made from leaves? You never explained that here earlier."

Runt looked at his older brother who had not been there when Princess explained this, not that Runt knew that. "King took my right eye from me. To hide the wound, Princess made this eye patch for me."

"Another reason I want to see King die first!" Claudette whispered harshly.

"What is taking them so long to get up here?" snapped Claws. "Do they know we're here? They can't even see us! Do they smell us?"

"They can't smell us," said Melissa. "The rogues reek so strongly of blood that all they can smell is each other, even when there's only one of them. We must be patient and wait for them to come to us."

"Until then, we must wait and listen," Princess instructed all the wolves.

There was over one hundred fifty wolves from the united Eastern and Western packs, and another one hundred fifty wolves from the Northern and the Southern packs. All together, there was on an army of just over three hundred wolves hiding behind these boulders. And they were all being led by four wolves: Princess, Runt, Lilly and Melissa.

These four were leading an army of wolves that outnumbered the enemy by just fifty wolves, maybe by a few more. There was over three hundred wolves on the side of the Jasper army, and no more than two-hundred fifty rogues from Banff. The three hundred Jasper wolves knew that the size of their army wasn't the only advantage that they had. Every single one of them was smarter than the rogues. And they were all healthier than the rogues. Primarily because the Jasper wolves had more access to food sources−caribou, fish and so on−than the rogues did. Simply because the Jasper wolves ate better, and ate more than, the rogues, that gave them the advantage of being stronger and having more energy than their enemies could hope to have. They ate so much more that they were all fat wolves compared to the rogues.

Wolves who ate better always fought just as better than wolves who didn't eat good, and eat enough. Yes, the rogues may have more training and more discipline than the Jasper wolves did, and probably ever could, but they didn't make a perfect army for just one reason: the rogues did not eat as well as their enemies. Not even King and Queen and those two were the Alpha male and the Alpha female of their pack. It was next to impossible to find wolves whom were more skinny than the ones from Banff. It was remarkable that all their training and discipline did them any good at all. How had that one rogue managed to kill Sweets? Sweets was obviously stronger and healthier than the rogue who attacked her, Candy and Reba and Janice. At the time, none of them had any combat training, and yet one of them could have easily overpowered that rogue.

Of course, now that Candy had gone through a crash course of Alpha school, under Garth, and that she was fighting with the others, hoping to avenge Sweets' murder, Candy could stand her own against more than one rogue. Sweets was the best and oldest friend of Candy. They had known each other since they were just puppies.

Candy still remembered the day she and Sweets met each other. There was a truth about their pasts that no one knew but them. The two families they came from were four wolves born in Banff, before King became the Alpha male. They were born to two different families. Kate and Lilly were still in Eve's womb at the time, as well Garth and Humphrey in their mothers' wombs.

Candy and Sweets were half-naked of their first coat of fur, which was actually only fuzz, not fur, when they were orphaned. That day started when their mothers and their fathers, all Omega wolves, decided to help the Alphas and the Betas who were going on a hunt that day. Back then, things were so much different and so much better in Banff than it was now that King was the Alpha male of the park. Before King left Jasper for Banff, it was actually once a great place to live, believe it or not. Alphas, Betas and Omegas were all treated equally, and there was once more than enough caribou and fish for all the wolf packs and bears in Banff. (Those bears have since left, and now live in Jasper Park or Red Deer Park.) But when King and his then forty-nine followers conquered Banff, their new regime did nothing to stop overhunting of caribou and overfishing of the rivers. And yet King blamed the Jasper wolves for all of his pack's problems, when it was his actions that were to blame in the first place.

Candy's and Sweets' mothers and fathers lost their lives when the hunting party underestimated how large of a caribou herd they was going after. The hunting party spooked the caribou herd, and that resulted in only four wolves being trampled to death. Candy and Sweets were orphaned and no one cared about them, thinking that the pups would be dead in hours without their mothers' milk to feed them. No one had been willing to sacrifice their own milk for runts. As half-naked wolf pups whose eyes only just opened up days ago, Candy and Sweets had wandered the wilderness until they ended up so far north of Banff that they were rescued by a hunting party from the Western Pack of Jasper. At the time, Eve was pregnant, but she was still willingly to adopt Candy and Sweets.

When Kate and Lilly were born two weeks after their adoption, Candy and Sweets were instrumental in taking care of the pups when they weren't drinking their mother's milk. Of course, there had been four pups Eve gave birth to, but two of them died, so there was enough extra milk in her to feed not just Kate and Lilly but Candy and Sweets as well. Even now, Candy could remember Kate and Lilly being newborns. They did not have even the smallest bit of fit on their pink, fleshy bodies, and they couldn't even open their eyes yet. All they had been able to do was nurse, drinking the milk of their mother.

Candy was silently crying when she thought about how two of the three wolves whom she knew the longest, from her puppy days, were dead, murdered by the rogues. Those two were Kate and Sweets; Lilly was the only one who was still alive. But who would die in this battle between the wolves of Jasper and the wolves of Banff? It was going to happen very soon, Candy feared. There would be many battles for the war between the two packs was over, most likely, but she feared that the first few would be the ones with the most bloodshed. Candy was hoping there would not be very many battles before King and Queen died.

"Are they coming, yet?" whispered Fleet.

"No," whispered Garth. "All they're going is talking about what is to come: the war for all control of Jasper. I can hear them perfectly."

* * *

"I feel that the Jasper wolves won't stand a chance, no matter how many more wolves they have in their army than we do," said Queen. "You trained our army too well to lose, even facing a greater-sized army."

"Yes, yes," said King. "Jasper will be ours, and all of Kate's family will suffer the same fate as she did. Our wolves will kill them all, whether it be during the war or after they are defeated, or they surrender. But, no matter how we win this war, Jasper Park will finally be ours and all resisters will be executed immediately!"

"You don't sound very excited," Queen said, as she lowered her head in submission of her dominant mate. "Is something bothering you?"

"This conflict between our pack and the Jasper wolves has been going on for some long that I am growing tired of it," King explained. "It will be a relief when it is finally over, and _we_ are the winners of that war. I do not care if they have three hundred wolves or three thousand wolves fighting against our army of two hundred fifty wolves. We will still defeat them and take Jasper. They have no discipline, in comparison to us, and have not trained anywhere as much as we did for this war. It's been two years since they fought, and I doubt they spent those two years preparing to attack us."

Queen laughed. There was something evil about her laugh. "I can't imagine those Jasper wolves being as optimistic as you are," she said. "They've lost their Alpha female and one of her pups. How could they have the morale we do? Those thirty wolves we lost did nothing to crush our morale! An army of two hundred fifty wolves under our command will do just as good at an army of two hundred eighty!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "We cannot be defeated! We are just too good."

"Keep dreaming," Princess whispered angrily. "I'll get you and take one of your eyes like your mate did to Runt."

_Now just bring your damn army up here so we can slaughter you all!_ thought Stinky, _or at least so we can slaughter your Alpha male and Alpha female! That will send them screaming back to Banff, if they see King and Queen die._

_They thing they can't be stopped_, thought Lilly, _and that will be their downfall. King and Queen think their army is all powerful, and they can't die. Well, if they can bleed, then they can stop breathing!_

The Jasper wolves heard a male rogue ask, "When are we going to attack Jasper? The army is getting anxious for some bloodshed."

"We will attack in ten minutes, if they do not show up over that rock by then," said King. "Until then, be patient. You all can wait ten minutes."

"The only way into the Western Territory is by going up that hillside there," said Queen. "It is a steep climb, but we can do it if we go seven, maybe up to ten, wolves at a time. It will take us a while to get the entire army up there, but we will do it. I don't want any of you to die before the fighting even starts," she added. "If you die when we are fighting, no matter who you are, you will be remembered as a hero back in Banff, and in Jasper if we conquer it. That will not change if we are defeated, which is next to impossible."

_Lying hag!_ thought Runt.

"Those who suffer injuries and even fight bravely in this war will be heroes in Banff," their Alpha female went on.

"How on Earth can they believe her lies?" asked Humphrey, in a whisper. "She is filling them with lies! They'll only receive glory if they die, and if they conquer Jasper! If they lose, they'll have died in battle or killed one of my family members to get any glory or remembrance in Banff!"

"Queen is a born liar," said Melissa. "She'll say anything to get her's and King's followers to fight. King and Queen believe that the best way to get anyone in their pack to fight is to tell them lies that are so good they can't not believe them. Telling them that they will be glorified if they kill any of your family, die or help take Jasper and that they can't lose this war is just a few of so many ways they can get them ready for war they are destined to lose. You'll hear more of them before her speech is over, I am sure."

"Oh, kill me if I have to listen to her ramble on about that any longer!" gagged Fleet, acting as if he was going to vomit.

"Keep your voice low!" hissed Princess. "Do you want them to hear-"

"Well, well," shouted King. "It sounds like we have some visitors. Get up that hill and kill them all!" he roared.

These words sent the rogues into a frenzy. All two hundred fifty of them ran toward the hill where the Jasper army was hiding, being led by King and Queen. They were all barking and snarling and shouting death threats toward the Jasper wolves.

"No more hiding!" shouted Princess. "It is time to fight! The rogues are coming! Get ready for the most bloodshed you will ever see in your lives!"

The three hundred Jasper wolves, from all four wolf packs in the park, ran out from their hiding place and were scattered in teams all over the cliff, a good distance back from where they were hiding. The plan was to slaughter the rogues as they came toward the group.

"We can't let them get past us!" shouted Claudette. "Not one of them can get to the Western Territory. There are families that couldn't leave because there are mothers still nursing their pups. We have to fight for their sake!"

"You here that?" one of the rogues shouted as she darted up the hillside. "They've got nursing puppies!"

"Fresh meat for our stomachs!" another rogue, a male, shouted.

"You won't get past us to harm the young!" Princess snapped, and then took out the throat of the first rogue who came near the wolves she was leading.

Before they could react, there was thirty or forty rogues up the hill in a matter of two minutes. They were enough distraction as the Jasper wolves fought them, not able to land very many blows on the rogues, for more and more of King's and Queen's army to join their allies. The situation in this first battle between the two packs seemed bad for those fighting for Jasper. The plan to funnel the rogues up the hill and take them out before more could join in the fray was not working.

By Runt's side was Princess, who was shouting for her army of three hundred wolves just to fight to defend the valley. The plan was no longer to kill the rogues but drive them off the edges of the cliff they were fighting on so they would either fall to their deaths or be hurt and then have to try and get back up here again. If that happened, they would attempt their original strategy of killing the rogues as they came up the hill again.

The four leaders of the Jasper army−Princess, Runt, Lilly and Melissa−saw King and Queen fighting a good distance away, but they had no opening to get to them. There was too many rogues in the way. If they had just one chance−just one−to get at either King or Queen, and mortally wound at least one of those corrupt leaders, that would end this battle quickly, and drive all the rogues away. But the war would not end until both of the leaders of the rogues were dead. So long as one of them was still alive, the rogues would have someone to lead them on. And there was no second chances. King _and_ Queen would have to die during this war, or the rogues would return again to try and take Jasper once more. If they retreated, but one of the leaders still survived, the Jasper wolves might as well say that they lost the war. And they would lose it if King or Queen, or both, survived this time to return to Jasper. Jasper will fall if they do not end it now.

King and Queen must be destroyed before this war between their packs can be officially over. There can_not_ be any life left in them.

"CLAWS!" screamed Claudette. "Someone help Claws!"

And then ten of the Jasper wolves were between the team of seven rogues whom were attacking the Beta wolf Claws. Princess and Runt each took out two of them, without the enemy seeing it coming. The rest ran for their lives.

Claws was bleeding out heavily from good-sized bites to her neck−thankfully not her jugular vein, though−her breast, and her soft underbelly. She was not in a good state, and needed to be helped immediately or she would be dead in minutes.

"Reba! Janice! Candy!" shouted Runt. "Get Claws to one of your hiding places and take care of her!"

"But I must fight with you!" Candy protested.

"You can fight again when Claws is stabilized," spat Princess. "War isn't all about fighting. Sometimes you must get away from the fighting to help your army win. Now help Claws! That is an order, Candy."

"GO!" shouted Stinky, as he ruthlessly executed yet another rogue. This time, a gray female. "Claws will die if you don't help her!"

That was all it took for Candy to see their side of the situation. With the help of Reba and Janice, the two vegetarian Omegas who were best friends since their puppy days, too, the three females carried Claws to a place that no tone of the rogues would be able to find. There didn't need to be a repeat of what happened to Sweets so many weeks ago.

"There's Queen!" an Omega wolf shouted suddenly. "She's all alone and there's an opening to get her."

"Get her, Princess, Runt," said Claudette. "We'll be fine."

"Lilly, I want you and Melissa to come with us," Princess commanded, and the four wolves ran through the gap of fighting wolves.

Queen suddenly found herself surrounded by four wolves from the Western pack of Jasper. She saw Princess and Melissa, and accused them of being traitors. That didn't bother them any.

Queen's heart dropped when she looked to the left of Princess and saw Runt. "A ghost! A ghost! You're fighting with a ghost, daughter?!"

"I'm not your daughter," retorted Princess.

"And I'm no ghost," said Runt. "You thought that you could kill me, but I killed those wolves you sent after me, and then escaped with very few injuries. I'm not the weak Omega you thought I was."

"You're not normal!" screamed Queen.

"You're one to talk," said Lilly, who was snarling. "You're married to the one who murdered my sister!"

"Your sister deserved to die! She married an Omega! And you deserve to die, too. You're an Omega who married an Alpha! That is not right!"

"Shut your muzzle," growled Lilly, who went on to dig out the left out of Queen. She took more than just the eyeball, but some of the flesh around the socket, too. "That is for what your mate did to Runt!"

Queen started letting out a scream of agony. The four wolves confronting her now jumped on Queen's back, and took her to the ground. The result was not a pretty sight, and very little remained of the rogue Alpha female when Princess and Runt, Lilly and Melissa were done with her.

King came back to assist his mate as soon as he heard her screaming, but he was too late to help her. All that was left of Queen was a mangled body with her broken bones sticking out like twigs after being broken off a tree during a storm, only white and bloody.

"Queen...Queen..."

"That is for my sister!" Lilly screamed.

"And my mother!" added Runt.

"Your time will come very soon, King," said Melissa, licking the blood off of her tan muzzle. "And if you think your mate suffered, then you have no idea what we will do to you when your time comes."

King was truly horrified by the sight of the only female he loved now reduced to a pile of bones and gore. So horrified that he screamed "Retreat!" and ran away from the battle field. His army of rogues followed. There was not one of them who felt like they were going to lose now that they lost one of their leaders.

When the chaos was over, the Jasper army gathered to survey the battle field. While Claws was the only casualty on their side, she would be fine now that Candy, Reba and Janice had her stabilized. There were no deaths among the Jasper wolves, and only one injury, but there was at least fifteen to twenty-five rogues who died in this short battle.

"This will not be the last we see of King," said Melissa, still cleaning Queen's blood off her muzzle and paws. "He'll be back tomorrow to seek vengeance for Queen. We must rest for the night and set up an hourly watch system so we aren't ambushed in our sleep."


	28. Final Conflict Between Jasper and Banff

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**The Final Conflict Between Jasper and Banff**

Princess was making her way up to the top of a boulder with Runt to address the army that would have been left without a leader after Kate's death if she hadn't taken over. A new leader could be chosen after this war was over.

"We won the first battle against King and his army," Princess began. "We should consider ourselves lucky that we suffered no deaths and only one of our wolves was injured. If anything good as come out of this first battle, it is that we took out at the most twenty-five of the rogues, and Queen is among them."

"Queen's death has broken King's spirit," said Runt. "I sensed that when he ordered his troops to retreat, even when they had the advantage over us all. But he will attack again−we know that, and we will have to be ready for the worst. We took his mate from him, and now he will be more determined than ever to take Jasper. It had to be done, but killing Queen may have just made things much worse for us all. King will be more determined to win this war, and so must we."

"Worst of all," Princess took over again. "I fear that we will suffer losses to the rogues−that some of us will die. King is going to say things to those rogues−lies, of course−to make his army act so violently that they will slaughter anything in their way. We are going to have to have the same mentality if we want to win this war. Wolves will die on our side, yes, but we will have to fight on to the very end. Remember, there is almost three hundred of us, total, and only two hundred twenty-five of them. We out number them by seventy-five wolves! We have the advantage of numbers, intelligence, strength, and our health! The rogues do not eat enough to keep this up forever, and we do. They have all kinds of diseases in their bodies that we cannot begin to imagine.

"We can do this, wolves of Jasper. We can win this war, even if it will be at a cost we don't want to even think about. Sometimes the truth is unpleasant, but we must face it if we are to remain free. If a only a few wolves die, and King is one of them, then, as much as I hate to see it, that will be the better option. The other option is for no wolves sacrificing their lives, and then we are defeated by King's army. If that does happen−which it won't!−so many more wolves would die than if we fight until King is killed."

"Princess," said Garth, who was not up on this rock with her−only Runt was−but in the crowd of wolves. "What will we do exactly will the rogues come back to avenge Queen? They're going to fight better and be more deadly than they were before now that we've taken out one of their Alphas."

"We will be more bloodthirsty than those rogues could ever began to imagine," Runt answered the question rather than Princess. "We aren't violent wolves compared to the rogues, but will must start thinking, acting and fighting like the rogues if we are to defeat them, with as few deaths as possible. We must cause as many deaths as possible in King's army while we try and get to King. Maybe, just maybe, if we are lucky, King will surrender when he sees that we are killing too many of his wolves for him to win."

"It is good to do some wishful thinking, but King will never give up until he is dead," said Melissa. She was standing next to Lilly and Garth.

"Call me crazy, but that is what I was trying to say for this reason," Princess went on. "We have to think like King has all of his pack thinking: that we won't be defeated. Only we can actually accomplish that. They can't. Taking out Queen was something that broke their spirits, even though they will have more of a will to fight than ever now. It does not mean they will put all minds to fight; they will be thinking about how 'Queen died for no reason at all and she didn't deserve to'. Any rogue who dies deserves it, specifically King and Queen."

Claudette spoke now. "But will we ever truly make things right those who died? My mother, Sweets, Nars and Ed? Even if we do kill King, will their deaths ever be avenged? We have killed those who took Sweets, Nars and Ed from us, but...can you ever make someone's death 'right'?"

"You just have to believe, Claudette," said Stinky. "King is the only wolf who murdered mother, and if he dies, then her spirit can rest in peace. But really, though, we can only hope that she will be content with King being dead."

"Rogues!" one of the wolves who was on watch shouted suddenly.

"They're coming back?" gasped Lilly. "Already?"

"A night of thinking is all someone like King needs," muttered Melissa.

"Get ready for battle!" commanded Princess. "Remember what I said to you all about how we'll fight. Let's make this the _last_ battle with the rogues. It ends with this one. And by 'it', I mean King's life ends with this battle!"

The army of Jasper wolves moved to the edge of the cliff when they heard what sounded like King shouting from at the bottom of the hill.

"You may have killed my mate so brutally last night," shouted King, "but I will give you an alternative to losing your valley. There is not that much of a point in taking it when I have no mate to rule it with. If you do not accept my alternative, then I will take your valley and kill all of your family, Runt so there is no leadership left. The alternative is you give my daughter, Princess, and the wolf Melissa back. They belong to me, not you. And I don't care if Princess has puppies in her that belong to you. She is my daughter, so that makes them mine. It isn't your son, Runt, that is going to have the puppies. So, what are you going to say?"

"What are we going to say?" Princess mocked her father. "I'm going to say you take that idea of yours and SHOVE IT!"

"If that is how you feel," sighed King, "then...TAKE THE VALLEY!" he roared.

The Jasper wolves had themselves ready for this battle before even one of the rogues was going up the hill. But they were moving so quickly that the rogues got up the hill quickly, and some of them were already fighting with the Jasper wolves. It was a repeat of last night's battle. The rogues were trailing up the hillside faster than they could be killed or kicked back down. It was an all-out battle again, only worse than before. Two Jasper wolves were already injured, and one of them had a fatal wound to the throat. The other wolf was lucky enough to be carried away by Candy and Janice. He couldn't run because he suffered a wound to the leg.

Princess jumped on the back of a wolf and tore open her jugular; she dropped like a rock. Dead. Princess left her to bleed out, and went to assist the three children of Kate and Humphrey who were fighting three adolescent rogues and two adults. It was probably a litter of pups and their parents; there was an adult male and an adult female. The addition of Princess and Fleet, who came to protect his mate, made all the difference. A slaughter was the best word to describe what happened to what they assumed was a family of rogues. They were a family, yes, but rogues were rogues. They were all sick, twisted wolves except for Princess and Melissa. If the Jasper wolves had a chance to kill any of them, they had to take it, or they would be killed instead.

There could be no mercy with the rogues unless they're just puppies. No wolf who had a conscious could just kill wolf pups. Wolf pups were always defenseless, even if they were the son or daughter of a wolf like King and his deceased mate. Adolescents and adults knew better than to go with someone King, and if they did, then they deserved to be slaughtered if it came to that. All of these two hundred some rogues deserved to be torn to shreds. The casualties on King's side−just deaths, there were no rogues who had a chance to be taken away by their healers−was six already. Only for a few minutes did the rogues even have the advantage in this second battle, but now the Jasper wolves had the advantage over the rogues. No matter what King said to his army, and no matter what they did, the rogues saw no chance of them regaining their advantage again. Things were only going to get worse for them.

Left and right, the Jasper wolves were fighting like rogues. They were in teams of anywhere from two wolves to five wolves, sometimes even five wolves, and those teams would go after any amount of rogues they could handle, as few as just one, and take those out with ruthlessness. King was horrified by how much these Jasper wolves were fighting like rogues. He knew that Princess and Melissa had to have told them how the rogues fought, and maybe even trained them how to be so deadly in their fight. Not one drop of blood was spilled by Jasper wolves since those first two were taken down by blows to the leg or to the throat. King was so tempted to just have his army retreat before the numbers dropped under two hundred wolves, and discuss with them how to rethink things. They were losing this war now, worse than during the first battle. King was afraid this would be the last battle, and probably the shortest war he ever fought when he was on the losing side. In the past, when he was on the losing side, something always happened that turned King's luck around. His conquering of Banff was a perfect example of this. But he felt that this would not be that battle. King knew he was going to lose.

A wolf dropped dead right next to King's feet. He gasped. It was Queen's younger cousin. Her eyeballs were gone, and so was her throat. Her stomach was hanging out of the gash in her belly.

A Jasper wolf from the Southern Pack jumped on his back, growling like a grizzly mother protecting her cubs. King's reaction was to flip around, throwing the smaller wolf to the ground. King ended her life by digging his fangs into her throat, specifically her jugular. It seemed that King drank up her blood, and even ate some of the flesh before he ran off.

Elsewhere, things were much better. Despite the one casualty of a southern wolf that was just reported to Princess, the Jasper wolves were still winning this war. It was almost certain victory, but it would be a victory tainted by the deaths of two Jasper wolves so far.

Princess froze in her tracks when she saw Scar get taken down by four rogues. Blood sprayed as his throat was mutilated by the rogues before anyone could help him. There would be no need to let Claws know about her mate's death. She had been watching the whole battle from inside a bush that hid the cave where the wounded were taken by Candy, Reba and Janice. Claws screamed and almost went after those rogues, but the three wolves who were keeping her safe dragged her back into the cave forcefully.

"There's females in that cave behind the bushes," a gray rogue said. "Let's get them." He took two other rogues, a brown male and a white female, with him into the cave. They went into unnoticed by the Jasper wolves fighting outside the cave.

* * *

Candy had her back to the entrance, as did Claws and Janice when the three rogues entered the cave.

"Candy! Help!" They heard Reba Janice, and spun around to see the three rogues pinning Reba to the ground, ready to kill her.

"Get off of her!" barked Claws.

"Shut yer muzzle, cripple," the female said. "You can't do anything with all those injuries."

"Watch me!" And then Claws blinked at Candy. That was a code, the rogues thought. And just as Claws had blinked at Claw, they were lunging at the rogues. They each took out one male who was holding Reba down.

All that was left was the female, who just stood there, shaking with fear, as Reba crawled behind Candy and Claws to be with Janice, who was scared to death, but yet relieved that her best friend was still alive.

"Please! Let me go!" the female rogue begged for her life. "I surrender! I surrender!" She was crying hysterically and sputtering so much that she was drooling all over the cave floor. "I won't fight!" She threw herself to the floor and sprawled her limbs out to the sides, with her tail tucked underneath her body, and her paws on her head. "I won't do anything! Just take me as your slave."

"I don't take slaves who tried to kill my friends," Claws said, and spit on the rogue. "And who kill my mate! I saw what you did to Scar. Why would I show you mercy when you didn't show any to my mate?"

"Please! Please!" Tears were welling up in this female rogue's eyes now, as she continued begging for mercy from Claws. "I didn't know he was anyone's mate!"

"You wouldn't have cared anyway!" Claws kicked the rogue in the side, at her belly, and sent her reeling into the wall of the cave. She lunged at her, and sank her teeth into her throat. There was a loud cracking sound as Claws' teeth crushed this rogue's windpipe and esophagus. Of course, there was a large spray of blood that got all over the ground, wall and Claws' face.

Claws released the dead wolf, who dropped to the ground. Her eyes were still open, but she didn't close her eyes. Claws would never have such respect for a wolf who murdered her mate. She was crying when she turned around to Candy, Reba and Janice.

Candy was in a posture of submission, as was the other two, because they didn't know how Claws would act.

"I'm sorry about Scar," said Candy. "He was a good wolf..."

"Don't apologize, Candy," said Claws. "You had nothing to with his death. I don't blame you. Just the rogues. I want to do something to avenger Scar, but I am injured. I wouldn't do anything but get myself killed."

"Just rest, Claws. I'll keep watch to be sure no one else comes this way."

* * *

"Scar is dead!" the wolves heard Garth shout. Garth was one of the few wolves who saw Scar's death.

"I am hearing that Candy and Claws took out four rogues who found their cave," said Lilly. "This is going too far!" she added.

"We have to find King and kill him now!" shouted Princess, as she killed a rogue. "Nothing else will stop these rogues!"

"Then nothing will stop us!" A rogue barked, as he went after Princess. "You'll never find King."

Princess dodged his attack, and the rogue cracked his nose on a rock. His nose was bleeding as Princess and Lilly tacked him. It did not take that long for his life to end at their claws and teeth.

Runt, Claudette and Stinky looked around as Fleet executed a rogue ruthlessly, tearing out his heart using his powerful jaws. The siblings spotted the one wolf they had been trying to find for the past hour and a half they'd been fighting.

"There's King!" gasped Claudette.

"Where?" barked Princess

"He's over there by the bushes, watching the battle!" Stinky pointed out the rogues' Alpha male.

"Stay here!" Lilly ordered the adolescent wolves, not referring to Runt. "Let's end this!"

Lilly took off with Princess, Runt and Melissa. They reached King's hiding spot before he could react.

"KING!" roared Lilly. King spun around, and stared with horror. He was cornered, literally.

"It doesn't have to end this way!" King shouted.

"Yes it does," said Lilly. "You killed Kate−MY SISTER! Damn you, King!"

The four Jasper wolves encircled Princess, effectively trapping him.

"There's no escape this time, _father_," Runt said in a mocking voice that made King shudder. He hated hearing an Omega call him "father," and that tone made the feeling so much worse. "You are cornered in this cave. There is _nowhere_ for you to run. Your time has come. This is for my mother!"

Runt lunged at King, but he was quickly overpowered. Of course, King did not have a chance to hurt Runt. Princess went for his back, tearing strips of fur and flesh off of her father's back. His daughter's attack revealed his spinal cord slightly. Lilly went for King's throat, and made contact with it. Melissa, who King was cursing and condemning for "helping the enemy," went for his front legs. She broke one of them and stripped the flesh off the other paw. It was just a bloody bone. She bit it off, and then spit out with a fragment of a tooth. She wouldn't need it or miss it. That tooth was giving her jaw pains for months.

King collapsed, and the four wolves backed off.

Princess and the other three sensed King's life slipping away from him as his blood flowed from wounds, and toward them.

"You used to always say how you would never die," Princess mocked her dying father. She felt no remorse about doing this to him. "Well, you are wrong. _Dead_ wrong," she laughed. "I found so much pleasure in making you suffer for what you did to me for two years of my life!"

"Yo...you can't do this to...to your father!"

"I've already done it." Princess spit on her father's head. His fur was matted with fresh blood. It was only his. King had been caught off guard and overpowered; he had no chance to do any harm to them.

"And I'll help finish the job," said Lilly, snarling, and showing her gums. "This is for Kate," she said as she and Princess moved their jaws closer to King's throat.

King screamed as his jugular was sliced open by his daughter and an Omega wolf. He was dead within a minute. The wound gushed blood.

"What do we do with his body?" asked Runt.

"Leave it for the scavengers," said Princess. "King deserves no funeral. Neither does his mate or any of these rogues who died. We will bring all their corpses into this cave."

"I'm sure their flesh would give vultures indigestion," said Melissa. "I wouldn't peck him with my beak if I was a vulture."

The four wolves exited the cave. The fighting had stopped−obviously the rogues heard King's screams as he was wounded and then killed. The Jasper wolves watched the rogues running south, some even jumping off the ledge, falling to their deaths, just to get away. They knew King was dead, and were in retreat. They only caused more of their own deaths by retreating. When it was all over, more than half of King's army was dead, primarily because most of them inadvertently killed themselves while retreating. In the battle, forty of the rogues were killed, and another fifty died from their ignorance.

"It's all over," gasped Lilly. "I just wish that no one had to die to accomplish this."

Claws was weeping over the mangled body of her mate Scar, whispering about how he would never see their puppies. Candy, Reba and Janice were unharmed, and watching over Claws as she mourned. The survivors, which numbered just under three hundred wolves, howled for Scar and the others who died, and then the deceased were buried. The corpses of the rogues, many which were mutilated beyond recognition, were moved to the cave where King died. They could just rot there and be consumed by scavengers, as far as the Jasper wolves were consumed.

"Let this be the last war we have with Banff, or any rival pack," said Humphrey, who was still crying for Kate, even though her killer was dead. "Look what this conflict between Jasper and Banff has caused. So many wolves died for a cause of an ignorant wolf. It is going to be a reduced Great Wolf Games..." he sighed.

Claudette looked to the ground. "I think we forgot all about The Great Wolf Games because of the rogues," she said. "We should rest for the day when we get back to our caves, and then finish the games for those who died. I will do it for mother, Nars and everyone else who lost their lives."

"There is some business we need to take care of before we return to Jasper," her father said suddenly.

"What is that, Humphrey?" asked Garth, confused.

"Well, I am still young, but I have no mate now," he said, "and I will never marry again. No one can replace Kate. I have made the decision that I will step down from the position of the Alpha male of the Eastern Pack and the Western Pack."

"What?" gasped Stinky, and the other adolescents. "I...I'll be the Alpha male."

"Stinky," said Humphrey, "you are my oldest son, but, if you do not mind, I have someone else in mind to take the role as Alpha male of the pack." He turned to his youngest son, Runt, and said, "Runt, would you want to be my replacement as Alpha male? And Princess, would you want to replace Kate as the Alpha female?"

"No one can replace you and Kate," said Princess, "but we accept considering the circumstances."

"I do not mind, father," said Stinky. "I actually agree with you. I was think for some time that I would not have made as good an Alpha male as Runt or Fleet could, and I wouldn't have accepted if you offered, father, with no disrespect intended."

Princess kissed Runt on the muzzle, and then licked his lips.

"My Alpha male," she whispered.

"My Alpha female," he whispered. "The future looks like it will be better for you after all..."


	29. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Oh, my, Runt," gasped Princess. "They're beautiful."

"Just like you, dear," said Runt, provoking his mate to giggle.

Princess and Runt were referring to the puppies nursing at Princess's belly. It was spring, and so many females had just gave birth to puppies−they were Princess, Claudette, Mica, Magril, a widowed Claws, and Melissa, who married and mated with Hutch shortly after the end of the war.

Albeit they were smaller than their parents, they could seem themselves in their puppies. Even if these puppies had no fur or fuzz on their bodies, Runt felt like the puppy closest to his mate's head was a female. Even with its eyes closed and just a naked pup, Runt saw more of Princess, and even its late grandmother Kate, his mother, in this pup. The other two looked more like Runt, and their grandfather Humphrey.

Princess laid her head down as a few wolves entered their cave. It was the great-grandparents of these puppies−Winston, Eve and Tony. They were smiling.

"Oh...my," gasped Eve. "That one by Princess's head looks just like Kate, only with Princess's mane starting to grow in!"

"I think we should name this one now," said Runt, nuzzling his mate's rear gently.

"What are you think?" Princess asked happily.

"Kate," he said simply. "If it wasn't for this one's grandmother, she wouldn't even be alive now. And I see features of my mother in her, even if she is just out of your womb, Princess."

"That sounds like a good name to me," his mate said. "I understand your reasoning."

"It saddens me that we are here as great-grandparents," said Tony, "when Kate isn't alive to be a grandmother. And Scar isn't even alive to be a father."

"Yes," said Runt. "It is sad, but we can't dwell in the past forever. My mother wouldn't want us to be sad about her when this is a happy time of year."

"And it is almost time for the spring Great Wolf Games," said Winston. "Of course, Claudette, Mica and Magril won't be competing in the games this spring. Neither will their mates. They're going to be busy. Maybe in the fall, they can."

"I'm going to sleep for a while," said Princess. "I'm sure you, Eve, knows how tiring giving birth to puppies is."

"Yes, I do," laughed Eve. "We'll come check on you later." And then the three elderly wolves left the cave together, after casting one last glance at the puppies.

Princess felt Runt nuzzle her cheek after she closed her eyes. Runt fell asleep next to her, on the side she wasn't nursing from. When she heard Runt snoring quietly, Princess opened her eyes again to look at what was by the mouth of the cave.

It was what humans described as a doll made from organic material such as twigs, leaves, and so on. It was a "doll" of Kate, very accurate, that Reba and Janice made for all of the family members of Kate, so they had something to remember the wolf who died for them by.

Princess smiled at the organic doll of Kate before she fell asleep again...


End file.
